LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

uhTW, 

Chap... Copyright No. 

SherL_.rM.Ci.. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND 

AMUSEMENTS 



A COMPANION VOLUME TO KING'S "SCHOOL 

INTERESTS AND DUTIES," PREPARED 

ESPECIALLY FOR TEACHERS' 

READING CIRCLES 



/ 
CHARLES W. MANN, A.M. 

DEAN OF THE CHICACO ACADEMY 



or 






NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 






COPYRIGHT, 1S96, BY 

AMERICAN" BOOK COMPANY. 



SCH. KEC. & AMUS. 
E-P 



PREFACE 



True education is the symmetrical and harmonious develop- 
ment of the various powers and faculties of the human body and 
soul. Education of some sort begins with the infant in the cradle, 
and is stopped only by the hand of death. In this fact is the 
seriousness of the subject. If education were not a continuous 
process, the teacher might hope to build a new structure upon a 
new foundation. As a fact, however, he is always building with 
the materials or upon the substructure of another. Any system of 
education is faulty which does not take this fact into account. 

A training confined almost exclusively to the physical nature 
gave to the world the rugged, narrow-minded, and venal Spar- 
tan. A training of the body and mind produced the fickle and 
unscrupulous Athenian. The broader education of modern times 
is threefold, concerning itself with physical, mental, and moral 
training. For many and weighty reasons, the greater part of the 
time and attention of the teacher is given to the training of the 
minds of his pupils. This is his special function, and the training 
of the teacher is designed to fit him for this work. School appli- 
ances and books have multiplied and improved until, in respect of 
these, our schools are the best equipped in the world. In the 
general desire to make the training of the mind as complete as 
possible, other considerations eqiially important have been in a 
measure overlooked. 

This book is based upon two ideas. First, that the surround- 
ings and the various elements of school life should accord as 
closely as possible with the needs of the unfolding nature and the 
growing abilities of the child, and that they should be a source of 
constant and increasing pleasure to the pupil. Second, that school 
life is a period in which the training of youths should possess har- 
mony, unity, and completeness, including not only instruction in 
books, but much of nature, of social life, and of physical culture. 

The hope of reward and the fear of punishment are the two 
great guiding motives of life. Of the two, the first is much the 
more potent and important. Yet it would seem that our schools 
are often managed upon the other basis, and that the fear of pun- 
ishment is the motive chiefly relied upon for the government of 
many of the pupils. We cannot dispense with this fear of pun- 

3 



4 PREFACE 

ishment ; but ought it not to be kept in the background, while the 
pleasure -which comes from duty well done and from the possession 
of knowledge for its own sake is kept constantly before the pupil ? 

The school should be pleasant and cheerful, with no more 
restraint than is necessary for good, orderly work ; and the widest 
possible latitude should be given to allow the minds of the pupils 
to develop according to their natural inclinations. I would not 
ignore the labor of study or seek to make a royal road to knowl- 
edge. I would emphasize the dignity of labor, and the honor 
and satisfaction which come from faithful work. I would lay 
stress upon the necessity for such work as a training for the duties 
of life. But I would remove all unnecessary friction and strive to 
make study as natural as play. 

The child who is absent from school should feel that he is miss- 
ing something worth having — not enjoying a period of emancipa- 
tion. We can reach this result if we look at school life from 
the standpoint of the child, as well as from that of the teacher. 
When the work is made inviting, the teacher has all the more 
reason to insist that it be faithfully performed. 

School recreations of various nature may be made profitable in 
themselves, as well as helpful for the rest and entertainment which 
they afford. Intellectual recreations have the effect of introducing 
into the school work much information which otherwise would 
not be so generally or so happily acquired. Physical recreations, 
properly directed, add greatly to the health and vigor of children, 
cultivate cheerfulness and good humor, and quicken the activities 
of both mind and body. 

By directing the recreations of pupils, the teacher may lead them 
to employ advantageously much time that would be wasted other- 
wise, when the school is not in session. Pupils should learn that 
a successful life is a busy, active life ; that according to the law of 
mental life, they must either grow in power or lose power, for there 
is no middle course. Not a little of the teacher's responsibility 
consists in his realization of this fact, aud in his impressing it 
upon his pupils. 

To succeed even approximately in producing a well-rounded 
mind, bodily vigor, and strength of character, is the ideal of the 
teacher. The ideal is but imperfectly realized ; yet when seemingly 
still distant, it is often most nearly attained. Such an ideal can be 
approached only by dint of persistent labor and unwavering faith. 

In conclusion, acknowledgments are due to the authorities of 
the Newberry Library, for helpful and unfailing courtesy ; to Mr. 
B. N. Jaquish, for useful suggestions in the chapters on science ; 
and to Mr. Hubert M. Skinner, for valuable assistance and advice. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Morning Exercises 7 

II. Beautifying the Schoolroom 45 

III. Singing Games for Little Pupils .... 57 

IV. Geographical Recreations ...... 83 

V. Gymnastic Recreations 118 

VI. Drills, Cycling, Boating, etc 145 

VII. Historical Recreations 173 

VIII. Other Outdoor Amusements for Larger Pupils . 203 

IX. School Compositions 222 

X. School Exhibitions 252 

XI. School Debates 272 

XII. Easy Experiments in Physics 288 

XIII. Easy Experiments in Chemistry 310 

XIV. Recreations in Latin 329 

Outlines of Reading Circle Work .... 337 

Index . 343 



\\ 



o 



CHAPTER I 
MORNING EXERCISES 

Variety a Necessity of Childhood. — It is a most important 
fact, and one which every teacher has met, that child life in 
its normal condition makes a constant demand for change 
and variety in its daily regime. It is one of the chief 
functions of the teacher to meet this demand, and to meet 
it satisfactorily ; to furnish scope for the ever-increasing 
mental and bodily activity of the child, to supply new food 
for thought and new subjects of interest. The mastery of 
the assigned lessons in the text-books is only a part of the 
pupil's education. What of the other part? What time can 
be found for it? How and where shall the child become 
acquainted with contemporaneous history and literature, 
with the new and important discoveries and inventions ? 
How shall he be led to acquire for himself a knowledge of 
current events, and to understand their nature and signifi- 
cance ? For once arouse and stimulate his interest, and he 
will become acquainted with them. 

The Time for General Exercises. — Evidently the time that 
can be taken from the regular work of the classes and given 
to more general subjects outside the text-books is limited in 
amount. The best use, therefore, must be made of it. A 
short period of study before the recitations begin will be 
found of great value. It will serve to direct the attention 
of the pupils away from extraneous interests and to the 
work of the day. A part of this time should be set aside 
for appropriate opening exercises, which may be made a 

7 



8 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

means of profitable recreation, their attractiveness lending 
a special incentive to punctuality in the morning. 

Devotional Exercises. — In the great majority of American 
schools devotional exercises of some form have a place, and 
it will not be inappropriate here to take note of these as a 
suitable introduction to the exercises of a purely secular 
character. In many schools the morning devotions consist 
of the reading of a portion of the Scripture, a prayer (some- 
times the Lord's Prayer, which the entire school repeats), 
and the singing of religious songs. Frequently the Bible 
reading or the prayer is omitted. Exercises of this char- 
acter, being viewed as religious instruction or as a formal 
mode of worship, have been the subject of much contro= 
versy. 

" There is small ground," says Dr. E. E. White, " for the 
claim that these simple exercises are in any just sense tech- 
nical religious instruction, and much less for the assertion 
that they are sectarian instruction. The practical end of 
these exercises is not religious instruction, but the awaken- 
ing and deepening of religious feeling ; and when they fail 
to secure this end, they fail to realize their true purpose. 
. . . The reading of the Bible in an indifferent and per- 
functory manner neither increases the pupils' reverence for 
it nor touches their emotional nature. In too many schools 
the Bible is read in an irreverent manner, many of the 
pupils, it may be, meanwhile preparing lessons, or doing 
worse ; and the most beautiful hymns of praise are so 
sung (?) as to rob them of all religious influence. Even the 
Lord's Prayer is sometimes recited noisily, and too often 
irreverently. The real end of the so-called devotional exer- 
cise is thus subverted, and we have no hesitation in saying 
that it would be much better to omit the exercise altogether 
than to conduct it in an improper manner. It must ever be 
kept in mind that what the school needs for its ends is not 
religious ceremony as such, but religious influence as a means 
to moral training." 



MOENING EXERCISES 9 

Selections for Devotional Reading. — For the devotional 
readings of Scripture, selections should be made which are 
complete stories in themselves, which reveal the basis of 
the Christian faith, or which contain some of its strongest 
moral and religious lessons. The Hebrews, cradled in adver- 
sity, holding the elements of divine truth and inspiration, 
transmitted their faith unchanged from generation to gen- 
eration, and at last gave to the world its truest faith before 
the time of their final dispersion. The history of Christ, if 
rightly presented, cannot fail to enlist the interest and 
sympathy of the smallest child. The purity, simplicity, 
and gentleness of his character appeal forcibly to the young. 
From the teachings of the Bible the child may be led to a 
true conception of the world in which he is placed ; of his 
duties to his fellows> to his country, and to God. 

Suggestive Devotional Readings. — The following short 
extracts from Scripture are examples of appropriate selec- 
tions for devotional use. The number of such may be in- 
definitely extended. 1 

Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : 
for they shall be filled. 

Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the children 
of God. 

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake : for 
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 

Rejoice and be exceeding glad : for great is your reward in heaven : 
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 

— Matthew v. 8-12. 



1 Morris's Scripture Headings will be found an excellent manual of 
Bible readings for general exercises in the school. 



10 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not 
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And 
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and 
all knowledge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove 
mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow 
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, 
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, 
and is kind ; charity envieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not 
puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is 
not easily provoked, thinketh no evil ; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but re- 
joiceth in the truth ; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth : but whether there 
be prophecies, they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall 
cease ; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we 
know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is per- 
fect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I 
was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a 
child : but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For 
now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face : now I 
know in part ; but then I shall know even as also I am known. And 
now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three, but the greatest of 

these is charity. 

— I Corinthians xiii. 

Various Ends of Bible Reading. — While the fact may be 
regretted, it is unquestionably true that in a great number 
of public schools the regular reading of a portion of Scrip- 
ture purely as an act of devotion is deemed impracticable or 
inexpedient, for various reasons. It does not follow, how- 
ever, that Bible teachings are to be eliminated from such 
schools. A volume so vast, so incomparable, so varying in 
its adaptation, can be used extensively in other ways. The 
value of its history, the grandeur of its poetry, the aptness 
of its parables, the sententiousness of its proverbs, the 
moral force of its narratives, render it an inexhaustible 
treasure-house of which the teacher may avail himself. 

The English Bible is a model of pure and strong compo- 
sition, and its constant use by the English-speaking race 
has been one of the most active and fruitful agencies in 
preserving to us the purity and strength of our language. 



MORNING EXERCISES 11 

Toward the better style of English of an earlier day there 
is now a strong tendency in our current literature. This 
trend, most pronounced in the poems of William Morris and 
Sir Edwin Arnold, is discernible in nearly all the notable 
English and American authors of the closing years of the 
nineteenth century. In our colleges and in our common 
schools as well, the study of literature is directed to the 
inculcation of the purer and stronger English from which 
we have drifted away. From the standpoint of a purely 
secular culture, the great value of the Bible as an educator 
will be apparent to every teacher. 

However used, the Bible should be read, quoted, or men- 
tioned always with reverence, and without disparagement or 
flippancy. If not read regularly as an act of devotion, it 
should be read at times, perhaps in connection with classic 
authors ; and indeed, its employment for moral, literary, 
and historical ends does not necessarily depend upon its 
use in religious exercises. Morning readings from the Bible 
or from the classics should be brief, well chosen, and varied 
both in subject and in manner, in order to avoid the sem- 
blance of perfunctoriness, and to retain the interest of the 
school. 

Historical and Literary Parallelisms in the Bible. — The 
Scriptures abound in narrations and descriptions which have 
become proverbial ; in expressions which have added force 
and meaning to our language ; in delineations of character 
which are reflected in the history of the world. A few 
instances of historical and literary parallelisms of the Bible 
will indicate the manner in which the book may be used for 
illustration and comparison. 

1. The familiar anecdote of Cornelia, the virtuous Boman 
matron, daughter of Scipio and mother of the Gracchi, is 
beautiful enough to have been itself a Bible story. This 
noblest of all Boman ladies, when left a widow, devoted her- 
self to the training of her children. When a wealthy friend 
displayed to her with pride a casket of rare gems, Cornelia 



12 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

laid her hands upon her two sons (afterwards famous in the 
cause of the people), and said : 

" These are my jewels." 

A similar thought is expressed in the Bible : 

Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another ; and 
the Lord harkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was 
written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought 
upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in 
that day when I make up my jewels. 

J F J- J _ MalacM m 16) 1? _ 

An old melody formerly sung very generally in American 
schools presents the same thought. It begins : 

When He cometh, when He cometh 

To make up His jewels, t 

All His jewels, precious jewels, 

His loved and His own — 
Like the stars of the morning, 

His bright crown adorning, 
They shall shine in their beauty, 

Bright gems for His crown. 

2. The choice of Hercules is a favorite narration of 
Grecian mythology. It is thus related by Dwight: 

Hercules one day betook himself to a lonely spot, to muse undis- 
turbed on his future life and fate ; and seating himself on a crossway 
he sank into deep reflection. On this occasion two females appeared 
to him, the one of whom was Luxury, and the other Virtue. Each 
endeavored to win the youth to her interest — Luxury, by promising 
him all the enjoyment of a cheerful, careless life, if he would follow 
her ; Virtue, by announcing to him troublesome and laborious days, 
but afterwards glory and immortality, if he would choose her for his 
guide in the path of life. " Thee will I follow; to thee devote my life," 
exclaimed the youth, with glowing heart, grasping at the same time the 
hand of Virtue ; and he followed her with firm step, resolved to endure 
patiently every trial that awaited him, to bear every burden that should 
fall to his lot, and to shun no labor that should be appointed him, 
however difficult the task might be. 



MORNING EXERCISES 13 

The story calls to mind the choice of Solomon, which is 
told in the following notable extract : 

In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, 
Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast 
shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign 
in his stead. Now, Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father 
be established : for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust 
of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that 
I may go out and come in before this people ; for who can judge this 
thy people, that is so great ? And God said to Solomon, Because this 
was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, 
nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life ; but hast 
asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my 
people, over whom I have made thee king ; Wisdom and knowledge is 
granted unto thee ; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honor, 
such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither 
shall there any after thee have the like. — II Chronicles ii. 7-12. 

How deeply Solomon valued this gift of wisdom appears 
from the constant reference to it in the Proverbs attributed 
to him, of which the following are examples : 

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my command- 
ments with thee ; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and 
apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowl- 
edge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding ; if thou seekest her 
as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures ; then shalt thou 
understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. 

— Prov. ii. 1-5. 

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth 
understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchan- 
dise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more pre- 
cious than rubies ; and all the things thou canst desire are not to be 
compared with her. Length of days is in her right hand ; and in her 
left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and 
all her paths are peace. — Prov. iii. 13-17. 

Doth not wisdom cry ? and understanding put forth her voice ? 
She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the 
paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming 
in at the doors. Unto you, men, I call ; and my voice is to the sons 
of man. ye simple, understand wisdom : and, ye fools, be ye of an 



14 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

understanding heart. Hear ; for I will speak of excellent things ; and 
the opening of my lips shall be right things. Eor my mouth shall 
speak truth ; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the 
words of my mouth are in righteousness ; there is nothing froward or 
perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and 
right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not 
silver ; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better 
than rubies ; and all the things that may be desired are not to be com- 
pared to it. I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of 
witty inventions. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil : pride, and arro- 
gancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel 
is mine, and sound wisdom : I am understanding ; I have strength. 
By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, 
and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me ; 

and those that seek me early shall find me. 

— Prov. viii. 1-17. 

3. The story of the Roman Horatius, who defended the 
bridge against the Etruscans, is the subject of one of 
Macaulay's stirring Lays of Ancient Rome. A like instance 
of heroism is shown in the following narrative : 

And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come 
and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised : it may be 
that the Lord will work for us ; for there is no restraint to the Lord to 
save by many or by few. And his armor-bearer said unto him, Do 
all that is in thy heart : turn thee ; behold, I am with thee according 
to thy heart. Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto 
these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. If they say 
thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you ; then we will stand still in 
our place, and will not go up unto them. But if they say thus, 
Come up unto us ; then we will go up : for the Lord hath delivered 
them into our hand ; and this shall be a sign unto us. And both 
of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines : 
and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the 
holes where they had hid themselves. And the men of the garrison 
answered Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and said, Come up to us, 
and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armor- 
bearer, Come up after me : for the Lord hath delivered them into the 
hand of Israel. And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon 
his feet, and his armor-bearer after him ; and they fell before Jonathan ; 

and his arnlor-bearer slew after him. 

— I Samuel si v. 6-13. 



MOBNING EXERCISES 15 

Upon this account is based the familiar song, Only an 
Armor-bearer. There is a moral force in the ringing chorus : 

Surely the Captain may depend on me, 
Though but an armor-bearer I may be. 

4. A very notable parallelism is found in a portion of the 
Book of Isaiah and the Fourth Eclogue of Vergil, entitled 
Pollio. The remarkable correspondence of the imagery in 
these compositions never has been satisfactorily explained, 
though it is not impossible that Vergil may have seen a 
Greek copy of the Prophet's writings. It is interesting to 
compare such passages as the following: 

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a 
branch shall grow out of his roots : and the spirit of the Lord shall 
rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of 
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord ; 
and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord ; 
and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after 
the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, 
and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth ; and he shall smite 
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall 
he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, 
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with 
the lamb, and the ; leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf 
and the young lion and the fatling together ; and a little child shall 
lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones 
shall lie down together ; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And 
the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned 
child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt 
nor destroy in all my holy mountain ; for the earth shall be full of 
the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. 

— Isaiah xi. 1-9. 

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the 
deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, 
and the tongue of the dumb sing ; for in the wilderness shall waters 
break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall 
become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water ; in the habita- 
tion of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 
And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The 



16 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

way of holiness ; the unclean shall not pass over it ; but it shall be 
for those : the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. 
No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it 
shall not be found there ; but the redeemed shall walk there : And 
the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs 
and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain joy and glad- 
ness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. — Isaiah xxxv. 5-10. 

At last they dawn, those better days, so long 
Prefigured in the old CuniEean song ; 
Fresh as the dew of earth's primeval morn, 
Of this great series, the first age is born : 
The lost Astrsea greeting us again, 
The olive and the just Saturnian reign ; 
Already the first fruit is largely given, 
And a new progeny descends from heaven, 
The links of iron ages to destroy 
(Thou, Virgin, ever helpful, speed the boy) , 
And with a golden race to fill the way 
From Nile to Thule ; give to him the day, 
Purest Lucina ; circling time explains 
The Sibyl, and thy own Apollo reigns. 
This Pollio's favored consulate must prove, 
When the great calends will begin to move, 
And fraud, at his rebuke, and malice fled, 
Release the nations from perpetual dread. 
The youth himself will their divinity 
Partake, when gods and heroes he shall see, 
And they intent his providence regard, 
The while, with gentle sway and just award, 
And all his father's virtues newly tried, 
An ever troubled world is pacified. 
Now, fairest boy, will the new teeming earth 
No culture wait, but pour to make thee mirth ; 
As lays of offering she can soonest bear, 
Wild nard and errant ivy everywhere ; 
And with the Egyptian lily twined, in play, 
Laughing Acanthus ; now the ewes will stray 
"[Intended, and at eve the goats come home 
Heavy with fragrant milk ; the herds may roam 
Loosely at will, nor even need to fear 
In thickets the great lion crouching near. 



MORNING EXERCISES 17 

The very cradle quickens, osiers loose 
To tendrils turn with flowery shoots diffuse. 
A softer green the thymy ground puts forth 
Nor lavish blossom dreads the sudden North. 
The serpent now shall die, and the false weed 
Of poison die, each healing leaf succeed, 
Common as grass the balm of Syria give 
Her fragrance, and the sick who taste shall live. 
No harrows then the generous glebe will brook, 
Nor purple vintages the pruning hook ; 
The sturdy plowman from his oxen now 
Loosens the yoke ; no fallows need the plow. 

— From Vergil's Pollio. 

Pope's noble Eclogue, The Messiah, has been based upon 
both the foregoing selections. Its author owes much to the 
inspiration derived from the originals, and in this poem has 
risen far above his usual style. The beginning of The Mes- 
siah is as follows : 

O Thou my voice inspire, 

Who touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire ! 

Eapt into future times, the bard begun : 

A Virgin shall conceive, a Virgin bear a Son ! 

From Jesse's root behold a branch arise, 

Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies : 

The ethereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move, 

And on its top descends the mystic dove. 

Ye heavens, from high the dewy nectar pour, 

And in soft silence shed the kindly shower ! 

The sick and weak the healing plant shall aid, 

From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade. 

All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail ; 

Returning Justice lift aloft her scale ; 

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, 

And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend. 

Swift fly the years, and rise the expected morn ! 

Oh spring to light, auspicious Babe, be born ! 

See Nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring, 

With all the incense of the breathing spring : 

See lofty Lebanon his head advance, 

See nodding forests on the mountains dance ; 

SCH. EEC. & AMUS. — 2 



18 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

See spicy clouds from lowly Saron rise, 

And Carmel's flowery top perfumes the skies ! 

Hark ! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers ; 

Prepare the way ! a God, a God appears : 

A God, a God ! the vocal hills reply, 

The rocks proclaim the approaching Deity. 

Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies ! 

Sink down, ye mountains, and ye valleys, rise ; 

With heads declined, ye cedars, homage pay ; 

Be smooth, ye rocks ; ye rapid floods, give way ; 

The Saviour comes, by ancient bards foretold ! 

Hear him, ye deaf, and all ye blind, behold ! 

He from thick films shall purge the visual ray, 

And on the sightless eyeball pour the day ; 

'Tis he the obstructed paths of sound shall clear, 

And bid new music charm the unfolding ear ; 

The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, 

And leap exulting like the bounding roe. 

No sigh, no murmur the wide world shall hear, 

From every face he wipes off every tear. 

In adamantine chains shall Death be bound, 

And Hell's grim tyrant feel the eternal wound. 

An exercise like the foregoing, presupposing on the part 
of the pupils an ability to appreciate the rhetorical merits 
of the diction and the parallelisms of the different compo- 
sitions, is adapted especially to the more advanced classes. 
An exercise so extended may be advantageously divided 
among two or more readers. 

5. A remarkably interesting parallelism is to be found in 
Paul's Epistle to Philemon, in behalf of the runaway slave, 
Onesimus, and the epistle of the younger Pliny to his friend 
Sabianus, which was written for a like purpose, and under 
similar circumstances. A comparison of these famous 
epistles will prove of special interest and value to students 
of the classics, but will be appreciated also by the school 
generally, since the compared epistles are plain of compre- 
hension and are highly significant in their contrast. " The 
letter of Pliny," says Canon Farrar, " is the letter of an ex- 



MORNING EXERCISES 19 

cellent pagan ; but the differences which separate the pagan 
from the Christian stand out in every line." 

Onesimus has been compared to the Marcus Dama described 
in the Fifth Satire of Persius, which fact will be of interest 
to the classical students who read the latter. 

Biblical Subjects of Poems. — Many incidents of the Bible 
narrative have been made the themes of noble poems by 
which the English literature has been enriched. The effect 
of each is heightened by the reading of both at one time, 
where they are used in morning exercises of the school. A 
few examples of these will show how they may be utilized 
for this purpose. 

1. Jacob's dream at Bethel is one of the most beautiful 
of the Old Testament narrations, and has been the theme 
of innumerable compositions in nearly all languages. 

And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. 
And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, 
because the sun was set ; and he took of the stones of that place, and 
put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he 
dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it 
reached to heaven : and behold the angels of God ascending and de- 
scending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am 
the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac : the land 
whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed 
shall be as the dust of the earth ; and thou shalt spread abroad to the 
west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south : and in thee 
and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, 
behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou 
goest, and will bring thee again into this land ; for I will not leave 
thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And 
Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this 
place ; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dread- 
ful is this place ! this is none other but the house of God, and this is 
the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took 
the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and 
poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place 
Beth-el : but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And 
Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in 



20 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put 
on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace ; then shall the 
Lord be my God. And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall 
be God's house : and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give 
the tenth unto thee. 

— Genesis xxviii. 10-22. 

It suggests the following stanza of a familiar hymn : 

Though, like the wanderer, 
The sun gone down, 
Darkness be over me, 
My rest a stone, 
Yet in my dreams I'd be 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 

A characteristic poem from Lucy Larcom, based upon the 
same narration, contains these stanzas : 

When Jacob slept in Bethel, and there dreamed 
Of angels ever climbing and descending 
A ladder, whose last round of splendor seemed 
With glory of the Ineffable Presence blending, 
The place grew sacred to his reverent thought. 
He said: "Lo, God is here, I knew it not." 

And wherefore did they fold their wings of light, 
Of swiftness, and of strength, those beings holy, 
And up to dawn celestial, through earth's night, 
Like mortals, step by step, go toiling slowly ? 
Was it to teach themselves the painful way 
Man's feet must take to their familiar day ? 

Or was it that the traveler, laid asleep 

On his stone pillow, with an inward seeing,. 

Should learn how mightiest spirits reach the steep 

And glorious possibilities of being — 

Not by a visionary flight sublime, 

But up the foot-worn ladder rounds of time ? 

Wherever upward, even the lowest round, 
Man by a hand's help lifts his feebler brother, 



MORNING EXERCISES 21 

There is a house of God, and holy ground : 
The gate of Heaven is Love ; there is none other. 
When generous act blooms from unselfish thought, 
The Lord is with us, though we know it not. 

2. The interview of Saul with the Witch of Endor calls 
vividly to mind the divination of Shakespeare's Macbeth, 
through the agency of the witches. Saul's recourse to the 
supernatural to learn his fate, is thus described. 

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a 
familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his ser- 
vants said.to him, Behold there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit 
at En-dor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and 
he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by 
night : and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, 
and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman 
said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he 
hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards out of the 
land : wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to 
die? And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, 
there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said 
the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee ? And he said, Bring me 
up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud 
voice : and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived 
me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: 
for what sawest thou ? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods 
ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he 
of ? And she said, An old man cometh up ; and he is covered with a 
mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with 
his face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, 
Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up ? And Saul answered, 
I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God 
is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, 
nor by dreams : therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make 
known unto me what I shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then 
dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is 
become thine enemy ? And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake 
by me : for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and 
given it to thy neighbor, even to David : because thou obeyedst not 
the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, 
therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover 



22 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philis- 
tines ; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me : the Lord 
also shalt deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. 

— I Samuel xxviii. 7-19. 

Byron's poem, Saul, is a paraphrase of this narration : 

Thou whose spell can raise the dead, 

Bid the prophet's form appear, 
" Samuel, raise thy buried head ! 

King, behold the phantom seer ! " 

Earth yawned ; he stood the center of a cloud ; 
Light changed its hue, retiring from his shroud. 
Death stood all glassy in his fixed eye ; 
His hand was withered, and his veins were dry ; 
His foot, in bony whiteness, glittered there, 
Shrunken and sinewless, and ghastly bare ; 
From lips that moved not and unbreathing frame, 
Like caverned winds, the hollow accents came. 
Saul saw, and fell to earth, as falls the oak, 
At once, and blasted by the thunder-stroke. 

" Why is my sleep disquieted ? 
Who is he that calls the dead ? 
Is it thou, King ? Behold, 
Bloodless are these limbs, and cold : 
Such are mine ; and such shall be 
Thine to-morrow, when with me : 
Ere the coming day is done, 
Such shalt thou be, such thy son. 
Pare thee well, but for a day, 
Then we mix our moldering clay. 
Thou, thy race, lie pale and low, 
Pierced by shafts of many a bow ; 
And the falchion by thy side 
To thy heart thy hand shall guide : , 
Crownless, breathless, headless fall, 
Son and sire, the house of Saul ! " 

3. Another Hebrew poem of Byron relates the destruction 
of the army of Sennacherib (which seems to have been anni- 



MOBNING EXERCISES 23 

hilated in camp by a poisonous wind), in answer to the 
prayer of Hezekiah, king of Judah. The Bible account is 
as follows : 

Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He 
shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before 
it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, 
by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city saith the 
Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and 
for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the 
angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an 
hundred fourscore and five thousand : and when they arose early in 
the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 

— II Kings xix. 32-35. 
This is the poem : 

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, 
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold ; 
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, 
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. 

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, 
That host with their banners at sunset were seen : 
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, 
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. 

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, 
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed ; 
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, 
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still ! 

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, 
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride ; 
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, 
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. 

And there lay the rider distorted and pale, 
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail ; 
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, 
The lances uplifted, the trumpet unblown. 

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, 
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal ! 
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, 
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord ! 



24 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

4. The overture of angels, which announced to the shep- 
herds of Judea the birth of the Saviour, has been a fruitful 
theme for poets. The original narrative by St. Luke pos- 
sesses the very essence of poetry. 

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the 
field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of 
the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round 
about them ; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto 
tbem, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 
which shall be to all people. For unto us is born this day in the city 
of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign 
unto you ; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying 
in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of 
the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory be to God in the 
highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to 
pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shep- 
herds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and 
see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known 
unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, 
and the babe lying in a manger. _St T ike " 8-1 fi 

Milton's Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity was writ- 
ten while the author was in college, in the year 1629. It is 
one of the most severely classical productions in form and 
thought in the English language. Parts of the hymn only 
are quoted here : 

It was the winter wild, 
While the heaven-born child 

All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies ; 
Nature, in awe to him, 
Had doffed her gaudy trim, 

With her great Master so to sympathize. 

No war, or battle's sound, 
Was heard the world around. 

The idle spear and shield were high up hung ; 
The hooked chariot stood 
Unstained with hostile blood. 

The trumpet spake not to the armed throng ; 



MORNING EXERCISES 25 

And kings sat still with awful eye, 

As if they surely knew their sovereign Lord was by. 

But peaceful was the night, 
Wherein the Prince of Light 

His reign of peace upon the earth began. 
The winds, with wonder whist, 
Smoothly the waters kissed, 

Whispering new joys to the mild ocean, 
Who now hath quite forgot to rave, 
While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave. 

The shepherds on the lawn, 
Or ere the point of dawn, 

Sat simply chatting in a rustic row. 
Full little thought they then 
That the mighty Pan 

Was kindly come to live with them below ; 
Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep, 
Was all that did their silly l thoughts so busy keep. 

When such music sweet 
Their hearts and ears did greet, 

As never was by mortal finger strook ; 
Divinely-warbled voice 
Answering the stringed noise, 

As all their souls in blissful rapture took. 
The air, such pleasure loth to lose, 
With thousand echoes still prolongs each heavenly close. 

Such music (as 'tis said) 
Before was never made, 

But when of old the sons of morning sung, 
While the Creator great 
His constellations set, 

And the well-balanced world on hinges hung, 
And cast the dark foundations deep, 
And bid the weltering waves their oozy channel keep. 

King out, ye crystal spheres ! 
Once bless our human ears, 

1 Simple. 



26 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

If ye have power to touch our senses so ; 
And let your silver chime 
Move in melodious time ; 

And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow ; 
And, with your ninefold harmony, 
Make up full consort to the angelic symphony. 

A modern Christmas Carol, by Dr. J. Gr. Holland, begins : 

There's a song in the air, 
There's a star in the sky, 
There's a maiden's low prayer, 
There's a baby's sweet cry ; 
And the star rains its fire 
While the beautiful sing, 
For the manger of Bethlehem 
Cradles a King. 

There's a tumult of joy 
O'er the wonderful birth, 
For the maiden's sweet boy 
Is the Lord of the Earth ; 
And the star rains its fire 
While the beautiful sing, 
For the manger of Bethlehem 
Cradles a King. 

5. The song of Moses and the Children of Israel is one 
of the most famous anthems of antiquity. When it was 
uttered Moses had but just led the Children of Israel from 
Egypt. Behind them were the years of oppression, the 
miserable life of the slave. The Egyptians were now over- 
whelmed in the sea. Life and hope opened gloriously for 
the emancipated race. The enthusiastic people burst forth 
in the following song of rejoicing: 

I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously : the 
horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my 
strength and song, and he is become my salvation : he is my God and 
I will prepare him an habitation : my father's God, and I will exalt 
him. The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's 
chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea ; his chosen captains 



MOENING EXERCISES 27 

also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them : 
they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, Lord, is be- 
come glorious in power : thy right hand, Lord, hath dashed in pieces 
the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast over- 
thrown them that rose up against thee : thou sentest forth thy wrath, 
which consumed them as stubble. And with a blast of thy nostrils 
the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, 
and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy 
said I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, I will draw 
my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy 
wind, the sea covered them : they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 
Who is like unto thee, Lord, among the gods ? Who is like thee, 
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ? Thou stretch- 
edst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in thy 
mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed : thou 
hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. The 
people shall hear and be. afraid : sorrow shall take hold on the inhabit- 
ants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed ; the 
mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them ; all the 
inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall 
upon them ; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a 
stone ; till thy people pass over, Lord, till thy people pass over, 
which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant 
them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, 
which thou hast made for thee to dwell in ; in the sanctuary, O 
Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign for 
ever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots 
and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the 
waters of the sea upon them ; but the children of Israel went on dry 

land in the midst of the sea. -& , -. , n 

— Exodus xv. 1-19. 

This song of rejoicing has been thus paraphrased by 
Thomas Moore : 

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea ! 

Jehovah hath triumphed, his people are free. 

Sing — for the pride of the tyrant is broken, 

His chariots, his horsemen all splendid and brave, 

How vain was their boast ! — for the Lord hath but spoken, 

And chariots and horsemen are sunk in the wave. 

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea ! 

Jehovah hath triumphed, his people are free. 



28 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Praise to the conqueror, praise to the Lord ! 

His word was our arrow, his breath was our sword ! 

Who shall return to tell Egypt the story 

Of those she sent forth in the hour of her pride ? 

For the Lord hath looked out from his pillar of glory, 

And all her brave thousands are dashed in the tide. 

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea ! 

Jehovah hath triumphed, his people are free. 

6. The story of Queen Athaliah, is the subject of the 
tragedy of Atlialie by the great French poet Eacine. The 
Bible narrative is as follows : 

And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was 
dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the 
daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of 
Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain ; 
and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from 
Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the 
house of the Lord six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. 
And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hun- 
dreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into 
the house of the Lord, and made a covenant with them, and took an 
oath of them in the house of the Lord, and shewed them the king's 
son. And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall 
do : A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be 
keepers of the watch of the king's house ; and a third part shall be 
at the gate of Sur ; and a third part at the gate behind the guard : 
so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down. 
And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they 
shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king. And 
ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons 
in his hand : and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain : 
and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in. And 
the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoi- 
ada the priest commanded : and they took every man his men that 
were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the 
sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. And to the captains over 
hundreds did the priest give king David's spears and shields, that were 
in the temple of the Lord. And the guard stood, every man with his 
weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of 
the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the 



MOBNING EXERCISES 29 

temple. And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon 
him, and gave him the testimony ; and they made him king, and an- 
ointed him ; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king. 
And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, 
she came to the people into the temple of the Lord. And when she 
looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and 
the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the 
land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets ; and Athaliah rent her clothes, 
and cried, Treason, treason. But Jehoiada the priest commanded 
the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto 
them, Have her forth without the ranges ; and him that followeth her 
kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in 
the house of the Lord. And they laid hands on her ; and she went 
by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house : and 
there was she slain. And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord 
and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord's people. 

— II Kings xi. 1-17. 

Racine's tragedy was intended to be recited, rather than 
acted. The seventh scene constitutes an admirable dialogue 
for a class of pupils in French. 

A Notable Bible Poem. — Much of the literature of the 
Old Testament is highly poetical, though possessing neither 
rhyme nor meter. The Book of Job is a very remarkable 
poem, and is possessed of great historical, dramatic, and 
literary interest. Various translations have been made of 
this poem. In some of these it appears in modern dress, 
with rhyme and meter. In others it has not these adorn- 
ments, but is given something of the outward form of 
poetry by the arrangement of its paragraphs. From a 
recent poetical translation of the latter class, by Professor 
R. Gr. Moulton, the following selections are taken : 

1. (Job curses the day in which he was bom, and regrets 
that he did not die at birth.') 

For now I should have lien down and been quiet ; 
I should have slept ; then had I been at rest. 
"With kings and counselors of the earth, 
Which built solitary piles for themselves, 



30 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Or with princes that had gold, 

Who filled their houses with silver ; 

Or as an untimely birth I had not been ; 

As infants which never saw light. 

Where the wicked cease from troubling ; 

Where the weary be at rest. 

Where the prisoners are at ease together ; 

They hear not the voice of the taskmaster, 

The small and the great are there ; 

And the servant is free from his master. 

Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, 

And life unto the bitter in soul ? 

Which long for death but it cometh not ; 

And try for it more than for hid treasures : 

Which rejoice exceedingly 

And are glad when they can find the grave. 

Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, 

And whom God hath hedged in ? 

For my sighing cometh before I eat, 

And my roarings are poured out like water, 

For the thing that I fear cometh upon me ; 

And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me, 

I am not at ease 

Neither am I quiet, 

Neither have I rest, 

But trouble cometh. 

2. (Job answers the speech of Zophar!) 

Man that is born of woman 

Is of few days and full of trouble ; 

He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down ; 

He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not. 

And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, 

And bringest me into judgment with thee ? 

For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, 

That it will sprout again, 

And that the tender branch thereof will not cease ; 

Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, 

And the stock thereof die in the ground, 

Yet through the scent of water it will bud, 

And put forth boughs like a plant, 



MORNING EXERCISES 31 

But man dieth and wasteth away, 

Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ? 

As the waters fail from the sea, 

And the river decayeth and drieth up, 

So man lieth down and riseth not : 

Till the heavens be no more, 

They shall not awake, 

Nor be roused out of their sleep. 

3. (Bildad speaks.) 

How long wilt thou speak these things ? 

How long shall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind ? 

Doth God pervert judgment ? 

Or doth the Almighty pervert justice ? 

Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, 

Neither will he uphold the evil-doers, 

He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, 

And thy lips with shouting. 

They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame. 

And the tent of the wicked shall be no more. 

4. (Job answers.) 

Of a truth I know that it is so ; 

But how can a man be just with God ? 

If he be pleased to contend with him, 

He cannot answer him one of a thousand. 

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength •. 

Who hath hardened himself against him and prospered ? 

Which removeth the mountains and they know it not, 

When he overturneth them in his anger ; 

Which shaketh the earth out of her place, 

And the pillars thereof tremble. 

Which commandeth the sun and it riseth not ; 

And sealeth up the stars, 

Which alone stretcheth out the heavens, 

And treadeth upon the waves of the sea. 

Which maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades 

And the chambers of the south. 

Lo, he goeth by me and I see him not ; 

Behold he seizeth the prey, who can hinder him ? 

Who will say unto him, What doest thou ? 



32 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

God will not withdraw his anger ; 

The helpers of Kahab do stoop under him. 

How much less shall I answer him , 

And choose out my words to reason with him ! 

The sublime poem entitled . God, by the Russian poet 
and statesman Derzhavin (1743-1816), while not based 
specifically upon any passage of Scripture, expresses the 
lofty idea of the Creator which the Bible inculcates 
throughout. An excellent English rendering of the poem 
is the following: 

Thou eternal One, whose presence bright 
All space doth occupy, all motion guide, — 

Unchanged through time's all-devastating flight, 
Thou only God, there is no God beside. 

Thou Being above all things, Mighty One, 

Whom none can comprehend and none explore, 

Who fillest existence with Thyself alone, 
Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er, — 
Being whom we call God — and know no more. 

In its sublime research, Philosophy 

May measure out the ocean deep, may count 
The sun's rays or the sands — but, God, for Thee 

There is no weight nor measure ; none can mount 
Up to Thy mysteries. Beason's brightest spark, 

Though kindled by Thy light, in vain would try 
To trace Thy counsels, infinite and dark ; 

And thought is lost, ere thought can soar so high, 

Even like past moments, in eternity. 

Thou from primeval nothingness didst call, 

First, chaos, then existence ; Lord, on Thee 
Eternity had its foundation ; all 

Sprung forth from Thee, — of light, joy, harmony, 
Sole origin ; all life, all beauty Thine. 

Thy word created all, and doth create. 
Thy splendor fills all space with rays divine. 

Thou art, and wert, and shalt be. Glorious, great, 

Life-giving, life-sustaining Potentate. 



MOBNING EXEBCISES 33 

Thy claims the unmeasured universe surround, 

Upheld by Thee, by Thee inspired with breath. 
Thou the beginning with the end hast bound, 

And beautifully mingled life and death. 
As sparks mount upwards from the fiery blaze, 

So suns are born, so worlds spring forth from Thee ; 
And as the spangles in the sunny rays 

Shine round the silver snow, the pageantry 
Of heaven's bright army glitters in Thy praise. 

A million torches lighted by Thy hand 

Wander unwearied through the blue abyss. 
They own Thy power, accomplish Thy command, 

All gay with life, all eloquent with bliss. 
What shall we call them ? Piles of crystal light — 

A glorious company of golden streams — 
Lamps of celestial ether burning bright — 

Suns lighting systems with their joyous beams ; 
But Thou to these art as the noon to night. 

Yes, as a drop of water in the sea, 

All this magnificence in Thee is lost ; 
What are ten thousand worlds compared to Thee ? 

And what am I then ? Heaven's unnumbered host, 
Though multiplied by myriads, and arrayed 

In all the glory of sublimest thought, 
Is but an atom in the balance weighed — 

Against Thy greatness is a cipher brought 

Against infinity. O what am I then ? Naught ! 

Naught ! Yet the effluence of Thy light divine, 

Pervading worlds, hath reached my bosom, too ; 
Yes, in my spirit doth Thy spirit shine, 

As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew. 
Naught ! Yet I live, and on hope's pinions fly 

Eagerly towards Thy presence ; for in Thee 
I live and breathe and dwell, aspiring high, 

Even to the throne of Thy Divinity. 

I am, God, and surely Thou must be. 

Thou art — directing, guiding all, Thou art. 

Direct my understanding, then, to Thee ; 
Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart, 

Though but an atom midst immensity, 

SCH. EEC. & AMUS. — 3 



34 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Still I am something fashioned hy Thy hand. 

I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth — 
On the last verge of mortal being stand — 

Close to the realms where angels have their birth, 
Just on the boundaries of the spirit-land. 

The chain of being is complete in me ; 

In me is matter's last gradation lost ; 
And the next step is spirit — Deity. 

I can command the lightning, and am dust. 
A monarch, and a slave ! A worm, a god ! 

Whence came I here, and how so marvelously 
Constructed and conceived ? Unknown. This clod 

Lives surely through some higher energy ; 

Eor of itself alone it could not be. 

Creator, yes. Thy wisdom and Thy word 
Created me. Thou source of life and good, 

Thou spirit of my spirit, and my Lord — 

Thy light, Thy love, in their bright plenitude 

Filled me with an immortal soul, to spring 
Over the abyss of death, and bade it wear 

The garments of eternal day, and wing 
Its heavenly flight beyond this little sphere, 
Even to its source — to Thee, its Author, there. 

O thoughts ineffable ! visions blest ! 

Though worthless our conceptions all of Thee, 
Yet shall Thy shadowed image fill our breast, 

And waft its homage to Thy Deity. 
God, thus alone my lonely thoughts can soar ; 

Thus seek Thy presence, Being wise and good ; 
Midst Thy vast works admire, obey, adore ; 
And when the tongue is eloquent no more, 

The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude. 

Comments on the Readings. — Comments on Scriptural 
readings in public schools are not always deemed desir- 
able, or even permissible, owing to the opportunity which 
they offer to a zealous person for the inculcation of secta- 
rian views. Where the comments are purely of an historical, 
literary, or moral character, they are, of course, unobjection- 



MORNING EXERCISES 35 

able in themselves, and they may add greatly to the applica- 
tion and force of the reading. Thus the famous song of 
David, in the twenty-second chapter of II Samuel, is better 
appreciated when the circumstances of his life under which 
it was written are previously stated ; and the song of triumph 
of the Children of Israel possesses a fuller significance when 
the scene of its composition is portrayed. Many passages 
of Scripture will possess little meaning when read apart 
from their context and historical setting. 

In the public schools the question of comments upon the 
reading, like the question of devotional readings of any form, 
must be determined by circumstances, and will involve nec- 
essarily the exercise of good judgment. 

Other Forms of General Exercises. — Generally the Scrip- 
tural readings will occupy only a portion of the time that 
may be profitably allotted to the morning exercises. To 
these readings may be added responsive quotations at roll 
call, a brief discussion of the press dispatches of the day, 
short historical or biographical sketches pertinent to some 
event of special interest at the time, and brief descriptions 
of any new discoveries or inventions of importance. 

Responsive Quotations. — Some little time should be given 
by the teacher (especially at the outset) to the selection of 
the quotations, in order that no mere fragments of thought 
may be quoted, and that the selections may be representa- 
tive of the author. 

There are two ways in which the quotations may be 
arranged, either of which is good, and both of which should 
be followed alternately for the sake of variety. One of these 
arrangements is by authors, the other by subjects. The 
latter is the more difficult to follow, since it presupposes 
access to a considerable library, and some general acquaint- 
ance with authors. For the first method a few volumes 
of the complete works of one of the best authors will suffice. 
If the other plan be followed, the result will be a consider- 
able acquaintance with the works of the authors selected. 



36 SCHOOL RECREATION'S AND AMUSEMENTS 

Quotations from Shakespeare. — Let us suppose that on 
some previous occasion, the author's birthday perhaps, the 
pupils have learned something of Shakespeare; something 
of the history of the Elizabethan period; something of the 
influence which Shakespeare's plays have exerted upon 
the literature and thought of the world. In a few brief 
introductory remarks the teacher can present a picture of 
Shakespeare's home and its surroundings, together with 
some general characteristics of the English people of 
Shakespeare's day. If a specific play be chosen as the 
subject of the responsive readings, a brief account of the 
play and characterization of its leading personages will be 
appropriate. Then each pupil, in answering to his name 
in the roll call, may rise at his seat and repeat some well- 
known passage from the play or plays selected. It is often 
surprising and always very gratifying to note how generally 
and how quickly the pupils will become interested in the 
works thus quoted ; how they will speculate upon the mean- 
ing or application of this or that passage; above all, how 
they will enjoy what they hear or read. Boys and girls of 
thirteen or fourteen years seem never to tire of Shake- 
speare. The following selections are suggestive of suitable 
material for responsive roll calls : 

All that glisters is not gold. 

The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. 

It is a good divine that follows his own instructions. 

— Fast find, fast bind. 
A proverb never stale in thrifty mind. 

They are as sick that surfeit with too much, 
As that they starve with nothing. 

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had 
been churches and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. 

An evil soul producing holy witness 
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek — 
A goodly apple rotten at the heart. 



MORNING EXERCISES 37 

I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano, 
A stage where every man must play his part. 

The quality of mercy is not strained ; 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest ; 

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes, 

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes 

The throned monarch better than his crown. 

His scepter shows the force of temporal power, 

The attribute to awe and majesty, 

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ; 

But mercy is above this sceptered sway ; 

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 

It is an attribute of God Himself ; 

And earthly power doth then show likest God's 

When mercy seasons justice. 

Look how the floor of heaven 
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold. 
There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st 
But in his motion like an angel sings, 
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims ; 
Such harmony is in immortal souls ; 
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay 
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it. 

The man that hath no music .in his soul, 
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, 
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. 
Let no such men be trusted. 

How far that little candle throws his beams ! 
So shines a good deed in a naughty world. 

All things that are, 
Are with more spirit chased than enjoyed. 

— Merchant of Venice. 

New customs, 
Though they be never so ridiculous, 
Nay, let them be unmanly, yet are followed. 

how wretched 
Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors ! 



38 SCHOOL RECUSATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Fling away ambition, 
By that sin fell the angels. 

Love thyself last : cherish those hearts that hate thee ; 
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace 
To silence envious tongues. 

Had I but served my God with half the zeal 
I served my king, he would not in mine age 
Have left me naked to mine enemies. 

Men's evil manners live in brass : their virtues 
We write in water. 

This is the state of man ; to-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms 
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him : 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, 
And when he thinks, good, easy man, full surely 
His greatness is a-ripening — nips his root, 
And then he falls. 

'Tis better to be lowly born 
And range with humble livers in content, 
Than to be perked up in a glistering grief 
And wear a golden sorrow. 

— Henry the Eighth. 
Brevity is the soul of wit. 

Calumny will sear virtue itself. 

Be thou chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape 
calumny. 

Those friends thou hast and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. 

This above all — To thine own self be true ; 
And it must follow as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 

But not expressed in fancy ; rich, not gaudy ; 

For the apparel oft proclaims the man. 

Be not too lame, neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor ; 
suit the action to the word, the word to the action : with this especial 
observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature. 

— Hamlet. 



MORNING EXERCISES 39 

how full of briers is this working-day world. 

1 had rather have a fool to make me merry than experience to make 
me sad. 

And this our life, exempt from public haunt, 
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in everything. 

All the world's a stage, 

And all the men and women merely players ; 

They have their exits and entrances, 

And one man, in his time, plays many parts. 

— As You Like It. 

Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy. 

One pain is lessened by another's anguish, 

One desperate grief cures with another's languish. 

Care keeps his watch on every old man's eye, 
And where care lodges sleep will never lie. 

Nor aught so good but, strained from that fair use, 

Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse. 

— Romeo and Juliet. 
Best men are moulded out of faults. 

Our doubts are traitors, 

And make us lose the good we oft might win, 

By fearing to attempt. 

Man, proud man, 
Dressed in a little brief authority, 
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, 
As make the angels weep. 

— Measure for Measure. 

Love all — trust a few — do wrong to none. 

Praising what is lost 

Makes the remembrance dear. 

Oft expectation fails , and most oft there 
Where it most promises. 

— AWs Well That Ends Well. 

Tell the truth and shame the devil. 
The better part of valor is discretion. 



40 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

The blood more stirs 
To rouse a lion than to start a hare. 

— Henry the Fourth. 

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. 

The end crowns all : 

And that old common arbitrator, Time, 

Will one day end it. 

— Troilus and Cressida. 

Through tattered clothes small vices do appear ; 
Kobes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, 
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks ; 
Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw doth pierce it. 

— King Lear. 

Cowards die many times before their death, 
The valiant never taste of death but once. 

There is a tide in the affairs of men 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 

— Julius Caesar. 

The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures. 

Come what come may, 
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. 

— Macbeth. 
Courage mounteth with occasion. 

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, 
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. 

— King John. 

Glory is like a circle in the water, 

Which never ceases to enlarge itself 

Till, by broad spreading, it disperses to naught. 

— Henry the Sixth. 

Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps. 



MORNING EXERCISES 41 

Doth not the appetite alter ? A man loves the meat of his youth 

that he cannot endure in his age. 

— Much Ado about Nothing. 

They that stand high have many blasts to shake them, 
And if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces. 

— Richard the Third. 

As the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, 
So honor peereth in the meanest habit. 

— Taming of the Shrew. 

In nature there's no blemish but the mind, 
None can be called deformed but the unkind. 

— Twelfth Night. 

All places that the eye of heaven visits 
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens. 

— Richard the Second. 

Consideration, like an angel, came 

And whipped the offending Adam out of him. 

— Henry the Fifth. 

Sir, he hath never fed of the dainties that are bred in a book. 

— Love's Labor Lost. 

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. 

— The Tempest. 

Eoses have thorns, and silver fountains mud. 

— Sonnets. 

Periodical Summaries of Current History. — A very valu- 
able exercise for the opening of school is a general sum- 
mary of current events of the clay, week, or month. The 
subject is one of wide scope and may be extended indefi- 
nitely, according to the access which the pupils have to 
periodical literature, and to their general advancement and 
aptitude. In nearly every school some pupil will be found 
who is deeply interested in some recent discovery or inven- 
tion. To him this subject may be assigned until others 
become equally interested and equally well informed. Im- 
portant discoveries and inventions are constantly claiming 



42 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

our attention. Very recently the chemists have announced 
the existence of two new elements — argon and helium. 
The announcement offered an opportunity, not only to inter- 
est the more advanced pupils possessing some knowledge of 
chemistry, but also to explain to younger pupils some of the 
properties of the air, and some mistaken notions which have 
been held concerning it. The increasing use of aluminum 
in the arts and manufactures, and the constantly extending 
employment of electricity as a means of motive power, may 
form the subject of interesting and profitable remarks ad- 
dressed to the school in general. The recent opening of 
the Kiel canal in Germany afforded an opportunity for 
reviewing briefly the other great advancements in a similar 
line by various nations. The construction of the Chicago 
drainage canal, and the harnessing of the immense natural 
power of the Niagara River, are engineering feats of pro- 
digious magnitude, which cannot fail to enlist the attention 
of pupils. The death of a noted man in the government 
service offers an opportunity for considering the office which 
he has filled, and its relation to the welfare of the state. 

Valuable suggestions and material for exercises in the 
line of current history may be found in such periodicals as 
the Review of Reviews. Almost any standard newspaper 
can be utilized in this way. 

In our day the common interests of the various nations 
have grown in magnitude with the increased facilities for 
communication, travel, and trade, until matters which in 
former times would have possessed but a local or sectional 
interest are now subjects of world-wide attention and con- 
cern. A disturbance of the normal or customary political 
conditions in one nation is felt in all. Events of vast and 
far-reaching influence upon the future are likely to occur at 
any moment, and there was never a time when the interest 
in international affairs was so deep or so widespread as now. 
The old Eastern question involving the fate of the Turkish 
Empire ; the new Eastern question relating to the future of 



MORNING EXERCISES 43 

China and Japan, the settlement of recent international 
complications relating to the American republics, the future 
of Cuba, and like topics, should be brought to the attention 
of the older pupils, in order that they may appreciate the 
significance of the foreign despatches of the daily press. 

The sensational should be kept out of the schoolroom. 
That is not the place in which to tell the story of famous 
crimes or mysterious disappearances. All such subjects 
should be discountenanced or forbidden, except in those 
rare cases where they actually make history. 

Suggestive Outlines. — Following are a few brief sug- 
gestive outlines for the presentation of recent foreign news 
notes : 

1. The Cuban rebellion. 

The relation of Cuba to Spain, and to other countries. 

The Cuban rebellion of 1868, and the promises made by Spain as a 
result of that uprising. 

The failure of the Spanish government to keep its promises, and 
the oppressive character of Spanish rule in the island. 

Cuba's advantages as a commercial country. 

The influence of bad government in retarding the development of 
the resources of Cuba. 

The lack of facilities for transportation and for the expedition of 
commercial intercourse. 

The irregular, guerilla-like character of the present insurrection. 

The climatic and other influences favorable to the success of the 
Cubans. 

The relations of the United States to insurgent provinces. 

2. The close of the war between China and Japan. 

What were the chief objective points of the Japanese campaign ? 

Something of the history of Corea. 

The comparative size and strength of the two nations, and their 
defenses. 

The conditions of the peace. 

The interference of Eussia, England, and Germany in the settle- 
ment of this new Eastern question. 

The terms of the treaty of peace. 



44 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

3. "The Sick Man of Europe." (Refer to the Dictionary 
of Fiction in the supplement of the International Dictionary, 
for the origin of this term.) 

The anomaly of Turkish rule in Europe. 

The despotism of the Turks ; their bigotry ; polygamy and slavery. 

The traditional policy of the Russian emperors, who, from Peter 
the Great, have held steadily in view the seizure of Constantinople for 
a new capital of the Russian Empire. 

The immensely increased naval power which Russia would acquire 
from the consummation of this scheme. 

The reasons why the Turks have been permitted to linger so long in 
Europe. The jealousy of Russia, exhibited by the Western Powers, 
and the fear that the apportionment of the evacuated territory would 
result in a gigantic war among the foremost nations of Europe ; the 
further fact that the overthrow of the Turkish government would 
jeopardize the payment of vast sums of money borrowed in various 
states of Europe by the Sultan at different times. 

Recent events which seem to indicate that the Turkish Empire in 
Europe cannot long survive. 

The time which can be properly devoted to summaries of 
current history is necessarily limited. Extended exercises 
of this nature should be conducted not oftener than once a 
week. In most cases a monthly review of current history 
will be found very satisfactory. Sometimes by inviting 
expressions of opinion from the more advanced pupils in 
reference to the events considered, the teacher can secure 
a somewhat general participation in the discussion. 

The Importance of Reading well. — Whatever may be the 
nature of the general exercises at the opening of school, and 
whoever may participate in them, it is highly important 
that any and all reading shall be well and properly ren- 
dered. Poor reading will spoil the effect of the best selec- 
tions. The basis of good reading is perfect naturalness in 
manner, accent, and delivery. Those who read should make 
a careful study of their selections until they have mastered 
them. They should fully understand the thought to be 
conveyed, and should present it with proper expression. 



CHAPTER II 
BEAUTIFYING THE SCHOOLROOM 

Modern Ideas of the Schoolroom. — There is now a general 
subsidence of the surprise and opposition which were awak- 
ened among ultra-conservatives in education by the advance 
guard of those who seek to make the school a pleasant place 
to be in. It is conceded that the planting of flowers by the 
pathway of human knowledge will furnish a more inviting 
prospect, without diminishing the speed or detracting from 
the welfare of the traveler. The value of embellishment 
has been appreciated by at least one class of educational 
workers, — the makers of school text-books. The pupil of 
to-day can learn more of geography from the illustrations 
in a modern book on the subject than could have been 
acquired from the entire text which was in use twoscore 
of years ago. Much remains to be done in the overcoming 
of prejudices and the practical application of modern ideas 
to make the schoolroom cheerful and inspiring, but we are 
advancing. 

All the surroundings of childhood should be bright and 
attractive. Yet how frequently is this fact overlooked, and 
how carelessly and needlessly is it disregarded. It is not a 
difficult matter to brighten up a dingy room, as the experi- 
ence of the true teachers will readily attest. Upon the 
teacher's individual enterprise it must depend wholly in 
many cases. 

A Country-school Experience, — The case of a young girl 
who assumed the charge of an isolated and neglected 

45 



46 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

school is an instance in point. She discovered her school- 
room to be a bare and dreary-looking place. The stove had 
not been polished since it was purchased from the hardware 
merchant, and was red with rust. It rested upon a platform 
of bricks that was gray with the infiltrated dust of many 
winters. The walls were bare, the plastering yellow and 
cracked. She procured stove polish, and enlisted the older 
pupils in the work of imparting a shining surface to stove 
and pipe. With Venetian red and milk she prepared a 
rosy paint for the bricks of the platform. Such unwonted 
elegance became an inspiration and a contagion. Coopera- 
tive effort redeemed the window panes from cobwebs and 
dust. New and clean curtains soon appeared. Simple vases 
were procured and were filled with wild flowers by willing 
hands. Inexpensive pictures came to relieve the dismal 
monotony of the walls. Within a few weeks the room 
was so transformed as to be scarcely recognizable. Doubt- 
less this has been the experience of many, with scarcely 
any variation, but with more of good results where financial 
means were available to add to the improvement. Even in 
the best-appointed schoolhouses, and in the most liberal 
and enlightened communities, much still depends upon the 
enterprise, taste, and tact of the teacher in the matter of 
increasing the suitability and attractiveness of the school- 
room. 

Inexpensive Improvements. — Old school furniture may be 
renovated at little expense, and in general the decorations 
which will render the room attractive may be procured at a 
very small outlay, where more considerable expense is found 
to be impracticable. Where the teacher is left to depend 
wholly upon his own resources and the voluntary aid of the 
pupils, there is the more reason for making the most of 
every opportunity which may suggest itself, and the want 
of funds for the purpose of equipping and adorning the 
schoolroom does not remove, but rather increases, his re- 
sponsibility in the premises. 



BEAUTIFYING THE SCHOOLBOOM 47 

Care of the Room. — Order and neatness are the first 
requisites of comfort and cheerfulness in the schoolroom. 
If the desks be littered with books and papers, if the piano 
or organ be piled with sheet music or song books, if the 
pupils' contributions to a school exhibit be allowed to litter 
the room, there will be little use in attempting to add to the 
number of such treasures, since each addition to them will 
but increase the confusion and discomfort. A proper care 
for articles of educational and artistic value is not always 
inculcated in the homes of pupils, and should be taught 
always in the school. Globes should not be touched by 
the fingers, unless with the interposition of a clean hand- 
kerchief. Musical instruments should not be meddled with 
by the unskillful. Pictures should not be exposed to dust 
and dampness. Cabinets should not be rummaged by careless 
persons, nor should specimens of school work be roughly 
handled. Leaves should not be turned down in books. 
Heavy volumes, such as dictionaries, should be treated 
with special care. Apparatus is often ruined by thought- 
less manipulation. Glass and polished surfaces easily 
retain the imprint of finger marks. 

When once the pupils are taught the value of neatness, 
order, and a proper care of articles of value, they will be 
the more ready to contribute to these, and the more willing 
to participate in any plan for adding to the attractiveness 
of the school. 

School Decorations. — A visitor at the commencement ex- 
ercises of a village high school near a great city was sur- 
prised to note what seemed to him the lavish expense of 
the decorations of the room. " Why," said he, " these ferns 
alone must have cost a large sum." " Not a cent," was the 
reply of a member of the graduating class ; " we gathered 
them ourselves, and arranged them as you see them." 

The decorations of the chamber were as tasteful and as 
rich as those of many a banquet hall in the famous clubs 
of the city. Festoons of pine, fringes of grasses strung by 



48 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

knotting upon cords, banks of ferns, trophies of cat-tails 
and rushes, wreaths, and bouquets of flowers are beautiful 
adornments of schoolrooms upon notable occasions, and gen- 
erally it might be well for them to be left longer upon the 
walls. In some schools the mottoes of successive classes 
remain upon the side walls from year to year, continuing 
their lessons of truth, and keeping green the memory of 
the classes gone. It is a graceful act for a graduating 
class to leave as a memento also a class photograph or a 
group of photographs suitably framed or placed in a durable 
album. 

School flags are now common everywhere. When not 
in use without, they may serve as graceful and beautiful 
draperies ; or, if they be used outside too frequently to 
admit of this, they may be represented within the school- 
house by a few pasteboard shields of various shapes bearing 
the national colors. 

Maps, Charts, etc. — In most schools the bareness of the 
walls is relieved by maps, charts, pictures, etc. It is better, 
however, for most of the maps and charts to be kept in 
cases when not in use, as they are thus better protected. 
As for physiological charts, they are not generally aesthetic, 
and their constant display does not add either to the beauty 
of the room or to the value of the work. The continuous 
display of a skeleton, or of any of its parts, is not to be 
commended in a schoolroom. 

The globe, the dictionary, and the Bible upon the teacher's 
desk should be covered when the room is swept or dusted. 
Wastebaskets should not become overloaded. The princi- 
ples of good housekeeping apply strongly to the keeping of 
the schoolhouse. In the, bookcase the volumes should be 
tidily arranged. If many of these are old and unsightly, 
they will be made more presentable by new, adjustable 
covers, which can be easily procured and applied. 

Materials and Appliances of Educational Exhibits. — In 
notable educational exhibits made at the great expositions 



BEAUTIFYING THE SCHOOLROOM 49 

held in the United States within recent years, there have 
been displayed evidences of the pupils' work in many 
forms, the cabinets and devices for exhibiting them being 
of themselves highly creditable to the enterprise and inge- 
nuity of the exhibitors. One of the best results of these 
exhibits has been the popularizing of whatever was excel- 
lent in plan or execution in connection with them, and the 
interchange of ideas by means of which this has been ef- 
fected. The fact that an exhibit is in preparation is an 
incentive to teachers and pupils to put forth new activities 
and to exercise every faculty, to the end that a creditable 
representation of the work may be made. Many of the 
appliances employed in the school exhibits may be well 
utilized in the individual schools, as permanent features 
of the same. Some of these will be mentioned in detail. 
Others will readily occur to the thoughtful and ingenious 
teacher. 

School Cabinets. — Collections of woods, leaves, flowers, 
fossils, minerals, insects, etc., have been exhibited by many 
schools; often by district schools- not specially favored by 
their surroundings for work of this description. It is a 
mistake to suppose that such work is to be expected only 
of the larger and exceptionally well-equipped institutions 
of learning. A cabinet for holding collections of the nature 
indicated should constitute a part of the equipment of every 
school. 

A very satisfactory form of cabinet, where space is limited, 
is a set of flat boxes, three to four inches deep, by twenty- 
four inches in the other dimensions, fitting like drawers in 
a case. For minerals, the drawer may be subdivided into 
small squares; for botanical and entomological specimens, 
subdivisions will not be necessary. It may take a long 
time to fill such a cabinet, but the knowledge that it is to 
be filled will stimulate the classes to activity in procuring 
specimens for it. Specimens may be obtained in many 
cases by exchange. For a mineral cabinet it will not be 

SCH. EEC. & AMUS. — 4 



50 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

difficult, generally, to procure specimens of graphite, native 
copper, native iron, galena, iron pyrites, gypsum, native salt, 
niter, quartz, talc, mica, cinnabar, green, blue, and white 
vitriols, varieties of coal, etc. By a careful search in almost 
any coal yard, one can often find pieces of coal which retain 
the configuration of leaves and stems in their original forms. 
By a little effort specimens of many other minerals, such 
as dolomite, apatite, tourmaline, serpentine, zinc blende, 
antimony, etc., may be procured. Specimens of metals, such 
as block tin or tin foil, lead, iron, steel, aluminum, plati- 
num, etc., for comparison, will add to the interest of the 
collection. Specimens of rocks, such as clay, granite, 
marble, jasper, slate, marl, sandstone, limestone, etc., are 
easily procured. In localities where the drift is not deep, 
geological specimens of great interest may be gathered by 
the pupils ; and even in less favored localities there are 
frequently found fossils admirably suited to such a cabinet 
collection. The use of the cabinet will teach the pupils 
to be on the alert, and to notice what they see in nature. 

Each mineral or geological specimen should be numbered, 
the figures being marked upon minute pieces of cardboard 
or stiff paper, gummed to the specimen. The number 
and name of the mineral, rock, or fossil should be marked 
upon one of the edges of the compartment to which it 
belongs, so that if a specimen happens to be misplaced by 
accident, its true place will be readily found. 

Flowers in the Schoolroom. — Flowers add greatly to the 
attractiveness of the schoolroom. Cut flowers in vases are 
valuable for ornamental purposes, as well as for the illus- 
tration of botanical lessons, and of more general talks on 
plant life. The arrangement of flowers in a vase, with a 
view to the harmony of their colors, involves the exercise 
of taste and skill. Growing plants in pots or boxes will 
be found useful for study, as well as pleasing from an 
aesthetic point of view. A bracket-shelf extension of a 
window ledge will serve to accommodate these, where they 



BEAUTIFYING THE SCHOOLROOM 51 

may receive the needed air and sunshine, though a movable 
plant stand is preferable. If possible, the flowers should 
have the benefit of the morning light. Of growing plants, 
those should be selected which present variety in the 
manner of their growth, in order that diverse forms of 
plant life may be compared. Some seeds should be planted 
to illustrate the process of sprouting. Some plants should 
be grown from cuttings, some from bulbs. A fan palm or 
other exotic is an object of much interest in a schoolroom, 
but it requires more care and attention than need be given 
to the hardier plants which are native to northern climates. 
A bed of ferns may be grown in a deep box, or in some 
shady spot in the school yard, if the soil and climate be 
favorable. 

Botanical Collections. — Portfolio plant collections should 
form a part of the equipment of every school in which 
botany is taught systematically. The sheets for the port- 
folio should be of the standard size adopted for the Amer- 
ican herbarium (llixl6|- inches), and the pressing and 
drying of the flowers should be carefully performed. Di- 
rections for the pressing, mounting, and labeling of the 
specimens can be found in any text-book of botany. The 
collection should include all the native plants in the vicinity 
of the school. 

A more durable botanical exhibit may be made in the 
form of a turning cabinet, as follows : Wooden tablets 
16 x 14 inches, surrounded by a double molding to protect 
the edge of each face, are hinged upon a turned post, which 
is fastened firmly in the floor. Large cards and protecting 
glass are inserted in the molding, as in a picture frame. 
Three small eyelets are screwed into one side of the frame. 
Three horizontal, flat iron rings, surrounding the post at 
suitable intervals, with a circle of holes punched through, 
near the outer edge, will serve for the attachment of the 
frames, by one edge, to the post. By holding the frame 
in such a manner that each of the eyelets (turned horizon- 



52 SCHOOL BECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

tally) may rest upon the ring immediately above the per- 
foration, a long, stiff wire, hooked at the upper end (to 
prevent its falling through) may be slipped into the open- 
ings, thus forming a hinge. The frames may be turned 
to allow a free inspection of the cards to which botanical 
specimens are attached, and the latter will be permanently 
preserved from dust and wear. 

Such a cabinet may be presented to a school with the 
nucleus of a collection, by one class, leaving to others the 
task of filling out the collection. The cabinet, if well made, 
is a handsome and valuable addition to the furnishing of the 
schoolroom, and offers a never-failing source of interest to 
the pupils. A similar arrangement of swinging frames may 
be used for a variety of purposes, such as for the display of 
drawings, photographs, etc. 

Entomological Collections. — Such collections by pupils of 
all grades are valuable acquisitions to any school. In time, 
all our high schools will be supplied with these, as aids to the 
study of zoology. But it is an error to suppose that high 
schools are solely or chiefly interested in securing them. 
Something of the nature and habits of insects, their peculiar 
and remarkable organs, and the purposes which they serve 
in the economy of nature, will constitute profitable lessons 
for young pupils who know nothing of the scientific terms 
used in the classification and description of these forms of 
life. " From the abundance of material," says Dr. Edward 
S. Morse, " and the comparative ease with which the speci- 
mens may be preserved for cabinet use, shells and insects 
have always formed the favorite collections of children. 
They are the most common objects in nearly all collections, 
and it has seemed to the author that here the pupil ought 
to commence his studies." Butterflies and moths of them- 
selves will constitute a beautiful collection, and the smallest 
pupils will easily learn to distinguish these. Butterflies, it 
will be remembered, fly in the daytime, while moths fly only 
at night, or in the twilight. Butterflies, when at rest, gener- 



BEAUTIFYING THE SCHOOLROOM 53 

ally fold their wings, holding them perpendicularly above 
their backs, while the wings of moths are always spread 
out. The antennae, or thread-like projections from the head 
of the butterflies, grow larger at the ends, forming little 
knobs. The antennae of the moths grow smaller at the 
ends, and often have the appearance of little tapering 
feathers. Common beetles (pinching bugs), Colorado beetles 
(potato bugs), dragon flies, bees, wasps, and other common 
insects are valuable for entomological collections. Insects 
for preservation are generally mounted upon long pins, 
stuck in the bottoms of very shallow boxes, or cases. It 
is well to have these cases covered with glass, to exclude 
the dust. 

Aquariums. — An aquarium is a source of interest and 
profit in the schoolroom. It affords an opportunity for the 
study of various forms of animal and plant life, and is 
desirable in itself. Glass globes for goldfish distort the 
view of the fishes, and are less desirable than the oblong 
tanks with glass sides. Small aquariums of iron and glass 
are not expensive, and will repay their cost in the pleasure 
which they afford, and the opportunity which they offer for 
the illustration of various subjects. When these are sup- 
plied to schools in the country, pupils will vie with each 
other in providing fishes, turtles, pollywogs, pebbles, etc., 
for them. Care should be taken that the aquarium shall 
not prove leaky, and it should be firmly stationed upon a 
stand or bench, where it will not be liable to overturning. 

Pictures. — Pictures are of all kinds and prices, but one 
rule in their selection should be always observed : Select 
something that is good. Good things are not necessarily 
expensive, but are often thought to be. Portraits or 
photographs of American authors ought to be found in 
every schoolhouse. Generally they can be procured at a 
cost of less than five dollars apiece, frames included. 
There is an inspiration in the photograph of a man or 
woman whom we all love and revere. Its influence is 



54 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

always present to encourage or to admonish ; to fill us with 
high aims and noble purposes. A graduating class could 
leave as a memento no better gift to the school than a pic- 
ture of Longfellow, Emerson, Whittier, Lowell, or Holmes. 
Photographs and etchings are useful, not only as a means of 
giving pleasure, but as a source of knowledge. In these days 
of cheap pictures the school should be supplied with photo- 
graphs of buildings and public works, noted scenes at home 
and abroad, masterpieces of art, etc. The most striking 
feature of a certain poor and mean settlement in the neigh- 
borhood of one of our great cities is the number of pictures 
with which its schoolhouse is adorned. They are of all 
kinds and sizes. They reveal the famous works of old 
masters, the most noted buildings of the world, famous 
scenes in many countries, striking landscapes, and repre- 
sentative men. What a revelation is this to all who enter 
the unassuming building for the first time ! What an 
educating, elevating influence is their silent teaching ! 

Something of this culture may be brought to every school- 
room. We cannot all have a duplicate cast of the Parthe- 
non frieze, but we can all have a picture of the Parthenon 
itself, or of the Coliseum, or of Westminster Abbey. I 
would have the calm features of Washington and the hon- 
est, patient, manly face of Lincoln looking down upon every 
schoolboy and schoolgirl in the land, to teach what indi- 
vidual worth can accomplish, what faith and patience may 
endure. 

Picture Cases. — The pictures of a schoolroom need not 
all be framed. Many engravings illustrative of history, 
geography, literature, and science may be preserved in an- 
other way, and exhibited only on occasions when specially 
needed. A picture case may be made in the form of a 
square, shallow, wooden box, fastened by one side to the 
wall, and with the upper half of the outer side hinged, so 
as to drop down, thus offering access to the card pictures 
within. Within recent years the process of photogravure, 



BEAUTIFYING THE SCHOOLROOM 55 

and the increased demand of views illustrative of geography 
and travel, have led to the publication of various moderate- 
priced books of large pages, for the display to classes of 
pictures of landscapes, noted buildings, etc. 

When such books are used, they should be handled care- 
fully, and a bookstand should be provided for displaying 
them. If the teacher should not find such a book available, 
for lack of funds, a large scrapbook, neatly kept, with pic- 
tures from newspapers, advertisements, calendars, etc., will 
prove valuable as a substitute. To such a scrapbook all 
pupils would willingly contribute. 

Cooperation in Beautifying the Schoolroom. — Thus far, the 
suggestions made have generally concerned only such fur- 
nishings and adornments as may be procured easily by the 
cooperation of teachers and pupils, and with but little cost 
of money or of effort. Apart from the fact that teachers 
frequently find it difficult to secure appropriations for such 
purposes from the public funds, there is an advantage to be 
gained by enlisting the cooperation and inviting some sacri- 
fice of pupils in securing the articles desired. Pupils are 
more appreciative of the things which their own efforts 
procure. They are less careless and destructive in their 
treatment of articles which their own hands have made. 
There is also the valuable lesson of cooperation and sys- 
tematic work to a given end — a lesson which cannot be 
impressed too strongly upon the youthful mind. 

General School Furnishings. — A general discussion of 
school furnishing and equipment would be beyond the 
limits of this chapter. The seats, desks, bookcase, maps 
and charts, globes, physical and chemical apparatus, piano 
or organ, library, dictionary and reference books, etc., are 
supposed to be purchased by the school authorities, and the 
amounts of money applied to the purpose will vary accord- 
ing to circumstances. The teacher should be conversant 
in the matters of cost and comparative excellence in these 
lines of merchandise. 



56 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

A Valuable Auxiliary. — A valuable auxiliary in the way 
of school equipment is the stereopticon, which is finding its 
way into many well-appointed schools at the present time. 
For ordinary use those that are fitted with oil lamps will 
be found satisfactory. The collection of slides can be 
increased from time to time, and made to illustrate most 
of the studies of the curriculum. After the instrument is 
purchased, the cost of operating it and of procuring new 
slides will be merely nominal. The stereopticon is most 
useful in teaching history, geography, and natural science. 

The Esthetic in Education. — By keeping in mind the 
needs of the schoolroom, the teacher will find many oppor- 
tunities to add to its treasures. The additions may be small 
in themselves, but if each succeeding year adds something 
to the store, they will count for much in the end. In this 
practical age there is danger of paying too little attention 
to the aesthetic element of school life. If we educate pupils 
solely with a view to their production of wealth, we may 
stunt their appreciation of what is good and beautiful in 
nature and in art. School life should result in refinement 
of body and soul, without which education is but an incom- 
plete and unsatisfactory acquirement. 



CHAPTER III 
SINGING GAMES FOR LITTLE PUPILS 

Old Games for Little Children. — Madame Charriere, the 
French novelist, informs us that the old nobility of France, 
when driven from home by the Kevolution, found employ- 
ment throughout Europe as teachers of children. Thus 
were scattered in many lands a multitude of infantile diver- 
sions with which the children of princely houses had been 
amused in the exclusive society of the old regime. Gogol, 
the father of Eussian novelists, expresses in his Dead Souls 
a true Russian contempt for these " genteel recreations," 
which in his time formed a part, of the child life in all the 
great families of his nation, as a legacy of the French 
emigration. 

Influences of the Kindergarten. — In Germany the seeds of 
child culture fell on fertile soil. It was reserved for Froebel 
to develop the kindergarten system, which considers scientif- 
ically the complete training of the child from infancy in its 
simplest diversions, and in all the development of intellectual 
and physical activities. 

The providing of suitable games for little children is a 
matter of much care to kindergarten teachers. The plays 
of childhood exert a strong influence upon the formation of 
character and habit. They should be such as to involve the 
exercise of courtesies of speech and of action, and they 
should provide exercise and training in grace of movement. 

Children should be encouraged to play at suitable times 
and places, and not to seek seclusion. A child should not 

57 



58 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

be left to pout or "mope." A predisposition to sullenness 
can be best overcome by leading the child into an active 
participation in the healthy pastimes of other children. 

Suitable Games for Little Children. — Many of the popular 
games of children are objectionable for various reasons. 
Some involve the risk of physical injury ; others, solecisms 
of speech; still others, the objectionable feature of pro- 
miscuous kissing, etc. The more desirable games for 
children should be encouraged, to the exclusion of the 
less appropriate. 

In the arrangements of modern public schools, the boys 
and girls have, generally, separate playgrounds, so that the 
games are to be played by girls only or by boys exclusively. 
A boy's part, however, can be taken as well by a girl ; and 
games which were formerly played by boys and girls together 
can be utilized frequently in either division of the modern 
playground. 

The Improvement of Manners. — The manners of the people 
have undergone a vast change within a few generations. 
Conduct which would now be deemed insupportable in the 
home or in social gatherings was deemed unobjectionable in 
former times. In nations, as in families, there is a gradual 
growth in refinement, which may be greatly augmented by 
the system of education pursued. 

Various popular adages illustrate the influence of the sur- 
roundings of childhood upon the formation of character. 
" The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the 
world." " Let me write a nation's songs, and I care not who 
writes its laws." " As the twig is bent, the tree is inclined." 

"Where would you begin the education of a polished 
gentleman ? " was asked of a noted American. 

"With his grandfather, sir," was the prompt reply. 

While the teacher of to-day cannot begin with the grand- 
fathers of the pupils in school, he can begin with the grand- 
fathers of generations yet to be. 

The teacher should take care that the training of the 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 59 

young pupil in politeness shall begin with his first day in 
school, and that little acts and expressions of courtesy by 
other pupils be extended to every newcomer. 

"Welcoming a New Pupil. — A little action song of greeting 
to a new pupil offers a graceful welcome, which will be ap- 
preciated by the little child who enters the school for the 
first time. The song will serve to make the children ac- 
quainted at once, and will remove the shyness and the feel- 
ing of loneliness which are sometimes oppressive to the 
newcomer in his first school experience. It will leave upon 
his mind a lasting impression of courtesy and kindness, and 
will prompt him to join heartily in a similar welcome to 
others who come after him. 

We will suppose that little Charlie enters the school as a 
new pupil. At recess the teacher instructs his classmate, 
Willie, to present him to the other little pupils on the play- 
ground. The classmates form a circle around the two boys, 
and march around them, singing the first of the stanzas 
which follow here : 

Charlie's very welcome here, 

He must feel at home, 
He will find us full of cheer ; 

We are glad he's come. 
Charlie, Charlie, 

"We are glad he's come. 

The pupils now cease marching, and face the center, while 
singing the second stanza : 

In our circle he shall stand, 

While his classmates bow. 
Willie takes him by the hand, 

And presents him now. 
Charlie, Charlie, 

He's a classmate now. 

At the third line Willie takes Charlie by the hand, and as 
Charlie's name is called (twice), the two boys bow slowly 



60 SCHOOL RECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

and gracefully, first to the half circle in front of them, and 
then, turning, to the other half circle. The pupils in the 
circle at the same time make a graceful bow to the two boys 
in the center. The song may be repeated several times, if 
successive pupils desire the honor of presenting their new 
friend to their classmates. The music of this song, and 
others which follow, will be found at the close of this 
chapter. 

Morning Greetings. — A pleasant form of morning greeting 
is as follows : The little pupils who come early to school 
form a group or circle about one of their number (Grace), 
and sing the three stanzas which are given below : 

There is a merry little girl 
Who always loves to play, 
Who always loves to play. 

From those around now choose a friend 
Your compliments to pay, 
Your compliments to pay. 

Now bow to each and bow to all, 
And wish a happy day, 
And wish a happy day. 

As the second stanza is sung Grace extends her right hand 
to one of the other pupils (Fannie), who steps with her into 
the center of the group. At the third stanza Grace and 
Fannie bow, first to each other, then to the pupils of one 
side of the circle, then, turning, to those of the other side. 
There is thus one bow for each line of the third stanza. 
Grace now takes a place in the circle, leaving Fannie in the 
center to choose a friend as the song is repeated. Thus the 
greetings may be prolonged indefinitely. 

The Missing Pupil. — The little diversion of the missing 
pupil is old, and is variously modified. A small pupil 
(Anna), in the center of a group or circle, is blindfolded, 
while her playmates march around and sing this stanza : 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 61 

Happy now together 

All our classmates play. 
We are ne'er so merry 

When there's one away. 
But someone is missing — 

0, alas, it's true ! 
Please will some one call her ? 

Anna, dear, will you ? 

As they sing, one of their number detaches herself from 
the others, and hides behind a tree or behind the teacher. 
The child in the center removes the bandage from her eyes, 
and guesses who is gone. If she guesses correctly, the child 
who is concealed is the next to take the place in the center. 

The Little Shepherdess. — The old French nursery game of 

the little shepherdess (Kamdne tes moutons berg&re) is played 

as follows : The children form a circle, taking hold of 

hands, while one of their number (Carrie) sings and repeats 

the line, 

Here's the girl I love the best ; 

and then (letting go the hands of those next to her, and 
stepping within the circle, so as to face the child on her 
right) sings and repeats the line, 

I'll present her to the rest. 

Carrie now joins hands with her vis-a-vis (Lulu), the two 
girls raising their arms so as to permit the others to pass 
under ; and all the circle moves round through the " wicket " 
thus formed, the two girls singing the succeeding stanza : 

Now the wicket we'll unlock. 
Shepherdess, lead in your flock ! 
Now the gate we open hold, 
Till the flock is in the fold. 

After its conclusion, Carrie resumes her place in the circle, 
and Lulu sings the first lines alone, turning to the pupil on 
her right to form the " wicket," etc. 



,62 SCHOOL RECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

London Bridge. — Similar to the foregoing is the familiar 
game which is played to the monotonous refrain : 

London bridge is falling down — 

Falling down, falling down — 
London bridge is falling down, 

My fair lady ! 

In this diversion a line of pupils passes through a " wicket," 
or "bridge." As the last word is pronounced, the two chil- 
dren who form the " bridge " drop their arms (still joined) 
in such a way as to catch the one who is passing through. 
The child thus caught then takes the place of one of the 
pupils forming the " bridge," and helps to catch some other 
child in the same way, when the " bridge " falls. 

Planting Cabbages. — An old game of the peasant children 
of Europe is entitled "Planting Cabbages" (savez vous 
planter des cJwux). A group of children walk about, some- 
times irregularly and sometimes in a circle, singing the 
first stanza (which is also the chorus) of a simple ditty, as 

follows : 

If your cabbage you would plant, 

Plant it well, plant it well. 
If you don't know bow it's done, 

Listen now and hear us tell. 

In the second stanza the walk is arrested, and the pupils 
make a motion of planting with the toes of their shoes, as 
they sing the second and fourth lines. Care is taken that 
the rapid motions of the planting shall be made in unison. 
The stanza runs thus : 

It is planted with the toe — 

That's the way, that's the way ; 
It is planted with the toe — 

We are gardeners to-day. 
Chorus. 

The motions of the planting in the succeeding stanzas are 
varied, and suited to the words of the ditty. There may 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 63 

be an indefinite number of stanzas. Among those most 
usually sung are the following: 

It is planted with the heel — 

That's the way, that's the way ; 
It is planted with the heel — 

We are gardeners to-day. 
Chorus. 

It is planted with the thumb — 

That's the way, that's the way ; 
It is planted with the thumb — 

We are gardeners to-day. 
Chorus. 

It is planted with the wrist — 

That's the way, that's the way ; 
It is planted with the wrist — 

We are gardeners to-day. 
Chorus. 

It is planted with the knee — 

That's the way, that's the way ; 
It is planted with the knee — 

We are gardeners to-day. 
Chorus. 

Marguerite. — The little game of Marguerite is very com- 
mon in Europe. A group of children surround a little girl 
(Marguerite), each one taking hold of the skirt of her dress. 
A boy who is called the " little knight " advances from with- 
out, singing the first stanza. 

where is Marguerite 

To-day, to-day, to-day? 
where is Marguerite, 

For I've a call to pay. 

The girls surrounding Marguerite reply in the second stanza : 

She is within the castle, 

To-day, to-day, to-day. 
She is within the castle, 

O little knight so gay. 



64 SCHOOL BECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

The little knight as he walks around the group then sings : 

O won't you. let me see her, 

To-day, to-day, to-day ? 
O won't you let me see her ? 

For I've a call to pay. 

The girls around Marguerite respond as follows : 

The walls are closed around her 

To-day, to-day, to-day. 
The walls are closed around her, 

O little knight so gay. 

The little knight selects one of the pupils representing the 
wall, and leads him to a little distance where a line is to be 
formed, singing meantime : 

I'll take away a stone, then, 

To-day, to-day, to-day. 
I'll take away a stone, then, 

For I've a call to pay. 

The remaining children who constitute the " wall " sing : 

But one is not enough, sir, • 

To-day, to-day, to-day. 
But one is not enough, sir, 

O little knight so gay. 

Again the little knight advances, walks about the group and 
selects another " stone " from the " wall " as he sings : 

Then I will take another, 

To-day, to-day, to-day. 
Then I will take another, 

For I've a call to pay. 

The last two stanzas are repeated, with the same action, until 
but one of the children is left holding Marguerite's dress. 
The little knight now advances toward the two children 
without singing, and pointing to Marguerite's dress, exclaims, 

What is there in that ? 



SINGING GAMES FOE LITTLE PUPILS 65 

The child who still retains the hold upon Marguerite's dress, 
replies : 

It is a little package of clothes to wash. 

The little knight then exclaims : 

I will go and get my knife and cut the string. 

He then springs quickly back to the line which he has 
formed, the last attendant of Marguerite with him. As soon 
as the line is reached all the children pursue Marguerite, 
and the girl who catches her is entitled to be " Marguerite " 
in the next game. 

The Peasants. — A little game descriptive of simple peas- 
ant life in the Old World is very popular in many lands, 
and is played in a variety of ways, one of which is as 
follows : 

A group of children, boys and girls alternately, join 
hands in a circle and sing this stanza : 

Would you know how does the peasant — 
Would you know how does the peasant — 
Would you know how does the peasant 
Sow his barley and wheat ? 

While the second stanza is sung the pupils drop their 
hands and march around to the left, imitating by their 
gestures the sowing of grain. The left arm seems to hold, 
close to the waist, a bag of seeds, into which the right hand 
is dipped repeatedly in time to the music, and the right arm 
is then extended forcibly from the side as though the singer 
were scattering grain upon the ground. 

Look! 'tis so — so — does the peasant — 
Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant — 
Look! 'tis so — so — does the peasant 
Sow his barley and wheat. 

While the next stanza is sung, the children again clasp 
hands and face toward the center of the circle. 

SCH. EEC. & AMUS. 5 



66 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Would you know how does the peasant — 
Would you know how does the peasant — 
Would you know how does the peasant 
Eeap his barley and wheat ? 

In singing the next stanza the children again march 
around to the left, making gestures illustrative of mowing 
with a scythe, the gestures being in unison with the cadence 
of the music. The arms are extended forward, slightly bent 
at the elbow, and apparently grasping the upright pins of a 
scythe handle. The motion to the left is vigorous, while 
the return motion of the hands to the right is quicker and 
without apparent effort. In indicating the stroke of the 
scythe, the mower should lean forward as though perform- 
ing severe labor. 

Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant — 
Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant — 
Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant 
Eeap his barley and wheat. 

While the next stanza is sung, the children resume the 
same position as in the first and third. 

Would you know how does the peasant — 
Would you know how does the peasant — 
Would you know how does the peasant 
When his day's work is done ? 

In singing the next stanza, the pupils kneel upon the left 
knee, placing the elbow upon the right knee, and the fore- 
head upon the hand, as if resting from labor. 

Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant — 
Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant — 
Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant 
When his day's work is done. 

The next stanza is sung in the same manner as the first, 
third, and fifth. 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 67 

Would you know how does the peasant — 
Would you know how does the peasant — 
Would you know how does the peasant 
When his harvest is home ? 

At the last word of the foregoing stanza, each boy turns 
and clasps hands with the girl on his right, and all merrily 
dance around the circle, while the following stanza is sung : 

Look! 'tis so — so — does the peasant — 
Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant — 
Look ! 'tis so — so — does the peasant 
When his harvest is home. 

The Bridge of Avignon. — A game illustrative of the vari- 
ous trades and occupations, and suitable for either boys or 
girls or for both together, is known as the bridge of Avignon 
(pronounced av-een-yd). The children march around to the 
left in a circle, singing : 

On the bridge of Avignon, 

See them go — see them go ! 
On the bridge of Avignon — 

See them marching in a row ! 

In singing the first two lines of the second stanza the 
children stop, a little distance apart, and face to the center, 
imitating successively the motions involved in three forms 
of carpenter work ; as, driving a nail, sawing, and planing 
a board. The motions are repeated with the last two lines. 

The carpenters do this way, 

And this way, and this way. 
The carpenters do this way, 

And this way, and this way. 

The first stanza is repeated as a chorus while the pupils 
march as before, and a second occupation is illustrated in 
another stanza. This time it is the blacksmith, who works 
the bellows, pounds the iron, and nails on the shoe of a 



68 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

horse. Later on, it is the baker, who kneads his bread, cuts 
it into loaves, and places it in the oven. Little girls can 
fashion the song to illustrate the work of the dressmaker, 
the laundress, etc. 

At the close, in a single stanza, the courtesies of recogni- 
tion may be shown by both boys and girls, but differently 
— the girls and boys making graceful bows, and the boys 
lifting their hats, while all sing : 

The ladies all do this way, 

And this way, and this way ; 
The gentlemen do this way, 

And this way, and this way. 

The game concludes with the chorus. Sometimes the pupils 
dance around the circle at the last chorus. 

Knights and Ladies. — A very pretty game, suggestive of 
the ancient days of chivalry, and based upon an old English 
ditty, may be played by pupils of any age. The boys and 
girls arrange themselves in a circle around a chosen knight, 
facing the center, and stepping sidewise to the right as they 
sing: 

King Will was not King James's son, 

And yet the royal race did run ; 

And when he wore Britannia's crown, 

A partner shared his high renown. 

Go, choose from east or choose from west, — 
Advance, Sir Childe, 1 and make your quest ; 
For every gallant knight 'tis meet 
To choose a lady fair and sweet. 

At the end of the second stanza, the knight chooses a 
partner from the girls in the circle, offering her his hand, 
and conducting her to the center. The boys and girls stand 
still as they sing the third stanza : 

1 An ancient form of address for young knights. 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 69 

In olden time the brave knights kneeled, 
And vowed upon their lance and shield. 
Obeisance make upon the ground, 
And hasten, for the trumpets sound. 

At the third line the knight drops gracefully upon his left 
knee, takes his partner (who stands at his right) by the 
hand, and raises his left arm as though making a promise. 
At the last line he rises, bows low to his partner, and takes 
his place in the circle. The boys and girls in the circle now 
step again to the right as they sing : 

maiden, lift your sorrowing face 
And choose a knight to take his place ; 
Go choose from east or choose from west, 
~"Go choose a knight from all the rest. 

While the last line is sung, the girl in the center chooses 
a partner from among the boys in the circle, and he, offering 
his right arm, conducts her back to the center, standing at 
her left. The third stanza, slightly altered, is here repeated, 
with the action before indicated. 

In olden time the brave knights kneeled, 
And vowed upon their lance and shield. 
Obeisance make upon the ground, 
And tarry till the trumpets sound. 

With the first two lines of the stanza which follows, the 
first knight steps to the center of the circle and, offering 
his right arm, conducts the girl away. The second knight, 
having gracefully relinquished her, remains alone. 

The knight returns to claim his prize ; 
The maid departs with glad surprise. 
A knight remains to choose his own, 
And write his vows upon the stone. 

The march continues while this stanza is sung. At its 
close, the song is repeated from the beginning. Alternately 



70 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

a boy in the center chooses a girl from the circle, and a girl 
in the center chooses a boy from the circle. 

Marches. — Children's marches abont the school grounds 
should constitute an important part of their physical recrea- 
tion. Dr. Hailmann calls attention to the value of marches 
in the following statement : 

On account of their naturally rhythmical movements, their flexi- 
bility, and their readiness to admit other elements, the marches offer 
an inexhaustible source of pleasure, instruction, and exercise. The 
children may march in single, double, treble, or more-fold file. The 
files may move in relatively the same direction throughout the game, 
or they may diverge at certain points, and converge again at others. 
Again, the children may march in straight, zigzag, variously curved, 
wavy, or spiral lines, describing more or less symmetrical figures as 
they proceed ; they may move evenly at a regular pace, or they may 
step with more force with one or the other foot, or change step at cer- 
tain intervals ; they may march on the soles or on the toes of their 
feet with various degrees of rapidity ; they may have hold of one an- 
other's hands, or they may inarch independently ; in either case, they 
may go through a variety of movements with their arms, correspond- 
ing with the movements of the feet. Again, they may be arranged in 
two rows, facing each other, and go through a variety of related evolu- 
tions ; or they may be arranged in three or four rows, forming the 
lines of triangles or quadrilaterals, and produce the most delightful 
and instructive transformations. A few simple marching songs will 
suffice for these games. The directions should be short, simple, and 
to the point ; the older and more experienced children should be dis- 
tributed so as to serve as guides and examples to the younger ones ; 
the signals for changes in movements should be given by the hands or 
by short words of command, which, in some cases, may be repeated 
by a few of the older players, disposed as guides. 

A Marching Song. — An old marching song of lively meas- 
ure is presented here. The pupils should " stop," " turn," 
" stamp," and " clasp " quickly and in unison when the itali- 
cized words are sung, the pauses in the march being only 

momentary. 

Children, go 
To and fro, 
In a merry, pretty row ; 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 71 

Footsteps light, 

Faces bright, 

'Tis a happy sight. 
Stop a moment, turn around, 
Stamp your right foot on the ground. 

Glad are we, 

Full of glee, 
Singing merrily. 

Birds are free, 

So are we, 
And we live as happily ; 

Work we do, 

Study too, 

Much we learn to do. 
__ Then we laugh and dance and sing, 
Gay as birds or any thing ! 

Glad are we, 

Full of glee, 
Singing merrily. 

Work is done, 

Play's begun ; 
Now we have our laugh and fun. 

Happy days, 

Pretty plays, 

Banish naughty ways. 
Stop and clasp each other's hand, 
We're a little happy band. 

Glad are we, 

Full of glee, 
Singing merrily. 

Pretty marches are often arranged for the schoolroom, 
and serve an excellent purpose on stormy days. They may 
be accompanied by either vocal or instrumental music. 
Short marches from leading operas can be utilized for the 
purpose, where the room is supplied with a musical instru- 
ment. In this way the pupils of many schools have become 
familiar with the soldiers' march in Faust, and with beauti- 



72 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

ful marches from Norma, Aida, etc. Any simple march 
music, however, will answer the purpose. 

Exercise Songs. — Descriptive songs suggestive of various 
physical exercises are a source of delight to children. They 
help to " wake up " the school when pupils become drowsy 
or weary, and they add life and animation to the work. The 
following song is to be sung by pupils seated at their desks : 

Patter, patter, let it pour ; 
Patter, patter, let it roar, 
Down the steep roof let it rush, 
Down the hillside let it gush. 
'Tis the welcome April shower, 
Which will wake the sweet May flower. 

Pao&er, patter, let it pour ; 
Patter, patter, let it roar, 
Let the gaudy lightnings flash, 
Let the headlong thunder crash, 
'Tis the welcome April shower, 
Which will wake the sweet May flower. 

Patter, patter, let it pour, 

Patter, patter, let it roar, 

Soon the clouds will burst away, 

Soon will shine the bright spring day, 

Soon the welcome April shower, 

Will awake the sweet May flower. 

While the first two lines of each stanza are sung, the 
pupils are to imitate rain by tapping their desks with the 
ends of their fingers. Occasionally they may turn the palms 
of the hands upward, striking the desks with the finger 
nails, thus indicating the sound of hail. At the words 
"rush," "gush," "flash," and "crash," the palms of the 
hands are brought down together with a clap. While the 
next line to the last in each stanza is sung, the pupils resume 
their imitation of the sound of the rain, and, as the last line 
of each stanza is sung, they extend their hands, palms 
upward, and wave them up and down. 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 73 

A Song of the Antediluvians. — A quaint little exercise 
song of the " Antediluvians " is based upon the account 
given in the Bible (Genesis iv. 20-22) of the children of 
Lamech. Of these, Naamah is the legendary inventor of 
spinning and weaving, and the occupations of the other 
members of this antediluvian family are all given. 

In the chorus, certain boys represent Jubal, imitating the 
motions of playing upon a harp ; others represent Jabal, 
imitating the shearing of sheep; still others represent 
Tubal-Cain, imitating the operating of a blacksmith's bel- 
lows and the pounding of iron with heavy hammers. The 
girls all represent Naamah, imitating various motions in- 
volved in simple processes of spinning and weaving. All 
are busy. In the last two stanzas the work is laid aside 
and the pupils begin to nod, all eventually dropping off to 
sleep at the last, with the heads resting upon the arms. 
The successive nodding and recovery of position should be 
natural, the motions becoming successively slower and 
feebler, and the voices at the same time dying gradually 
away. The song is as follows : 

We are all Antediluvians, 

An-te-diluvians. 

We are all Antediluvians, 

As busy as we can be. 

Jabal, Jubal, Naamah, Tubal-Cain, 
Gay as the singing birds and free ! 
Jabal, Jubal, Naamah, Tubal-Cain, 
Gay Antediluvians are we. 

Blacksmith and shepherd and music man, 
Spinner and weaver and household queen, 
Doing as much and as well as we can, 
At work we're always seen. 

Jabal, Jubal, Naamah, Tubal-Cain, 
Gay as the singing birds and free ! 
Jabal, Jubal, Naamah, Tubal-Cain, 
Gay Antediluvians are we. 



74 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

We are all Antediluvians, 

An-te-diluvians ! 

"We can't deny it, 

We live in the land of Nod. 

To the east — of — Eden — 

We — are — all — Antediluvians — 

We can't — deny — it — 

We — live — in the 1-a-n-d of N-o-d. 

A Familiar Exercise Song. — The following old. and familiar 
song (slightly modified) is adapted to exercise singing in the 
schoolroom. The music of this is the same as that of the 
march song presented above. 

Here we stand, 

Hand to hand, 
Ready for our exercise. 

O how fine, 

In a line, 
Heads erect and steady eyes. 

Chorus. 

Singing cheerily, 

Cheerily, cheerily ; 

Clapping merrily, 

Merrily, merrily ; 
One, two, three, 1 don't you see 
Where pupils love to be. 

Right hand raise, 

Left hand raise ; 
Slowly drop and fold them now, 

Let them fall 

As we all 
Gently to each other bow. 

Chorus. 



1 With the words " One, two, three," the pupils take three steps for- 
ward, starting with the left foot. With the words " don't you see," they 
take three steps backward, to the original position. 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 75 

Eastward point, 

Westward point ; 
Left hand nadir, zenith right ; 

Forward fold, 

Backward fold, 
Arms akimbo, chest upright. 
Chorus. 

Now take seat, 
Square your feet, 
With the very least of noise. 
Clasp the hands 
On the stands, 
-, Now, attention, girls and boys ! 
Chorus. 

Quickly stand, 

Lungs expand, 
Backward let the shoulders go. 

That's the way, 

Teachers say, 
For us all to stand and grow. 
Chorus. 

Left foot fore, 

One step more, 
Two steps backward, then retreat. 

Gently now, 

Each must bow, 
And step softly to his seat. 
Chorus. 

Toasting Song. — There are various forms of an old French, 
toasting song (Vive la compagnie) which may be used for a 
graceful exercise of the school or class. Since toasts are 
now largely dissociated from drinking wine, the song con- 
tains no necessary suggestion of drinking anything other 
than water, and is wholly unobjectionable. It is not neces- 
sary, even, that the fingers assume the position of holding 
a goblet when the accompanying gestures of the arm are 



76 SCHOOL BECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

made. The gestures are graceful in themselves, and give a 
very pleasant effect to the song. 

When all are seated, one pupil rises and sings the follow- 
ing stanza, offering a toast. With the second line he raises 
his right arm in front as though holding a glass. The 
action is repeated in the fourth line. 

Come, schoolmates, and join in my song with a will — 

Here's to the friends we love ! 
May Heaven preserve them and keep them from ill — 

Here's to the friends we love ! 

In the chorus which follows all join, rising to their feet at 
the first word. 

friendship's the toast that is offered to-day — 

Friendship to last while the years roll away. 

Health to our friends ! joy to our friends ! — 
Here's to the friends we love ! 

As the last three lines are sung, and the imaginary cup is 
represented by every one present, there should not be dis- 
connected and jerky motions of the right arm, but rather a 
progressive motion describing three successive curves. The 
arm is at first raised gently forward, as though offering a 
goblet, then higher and backward to one side, then still 
higher and farther back above the singer's head. The 
chorus should be sung with spirit. 

The second pupil sings the first line of the second stanza, 
and the entire class, remaining seated, sings the second line. 
A third pupil sings the third line, and the entire class (still 
seated) sings the fourth. 

And first to the parents who've watched o'er our youth — 

They are the friends we love. 
And next to the teachers who lead us to truth — 

They are the friends we love. 

Chorus. 



SINGING GAMES FOB LITTLE PUPILS 77 

The first and third lines of the third stanza are sung by a 
fourth pupil ; the second and fourth by the entire class as 
before. 

A toast to the absent, to all of us dear — 

The absent of those we love. 
O would they were with us to join in our cheer ! — 

Here's to the friends we love ! 
Chorus. 

The first and third lines of the last stanza are sung by a 
fifth pupil ; the second and fourth being sung by the class 
as usual. 

And here's to the brave and the loyal and free — 

They are the friends we love. 
Their lives are incentives for you and for me, 

They are the friends we love. 
Chorus 



78 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



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80 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



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82 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



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CHAPTER IV 
GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 

Singing Geography. — Most middle-aged Americans of 
the present day will recall with interest and with some 
amusement Jhe " singing geography " of the days of the 
'50's. The capitals of the States and Territories of the 
Union, with their location in reference to water courses, 
were repeated in short lines set to music, and were sung 
throughout the land. Each line was repeated once, thus 
forming a distich, and affording a little variety to the music. 
Some of the names were apt to be distorted, in order to 
fill out the measure of the lines. 

Maine, Au-gusta, on the Kennebeck River, 
Maine, Au-gusta, on the Kennebeck River. 

New Hampshire, Concord, on the Merrimac River, 
New Hampshire, Concord, on the Merrimac River. 

sang the pupils in thousands of schools. And so on, through- 
out the entire list. The effect was electrical. The dullest 
pupil was stirred by the melody of the young voices and 
the novelty of the exercise. Usually some pupil pointed 
out the capital cities upon a map, as the names were sung. 
Children " sang the capitals " at home, and demanded maps 
for the household. Little ones who had not learned to 
speak distinctly caught the contagion and learned to " point 
off," as well as to sing, with their older brothers and sisters. 
The royal road to learning seemed to be discovered. Never 
was there such a marvel of easy and rapid acquirement of 

83 



84 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

knowledge. What had begun probably as a mere recreation 
in the study of geography became the settled business of 
the class. Soon, however, it began to appear to thinking 
people that the names of capital cities and of rivers did 
not really constitute the science of geography, and that the 
mechanical repetition of names did not stimulate thought. 
Although the advocates of the system fortified themselves 
with lists of other geographical terms, covering the sub- 
jects of bays and straits, capes, islands, etc., "singing 
geography" fell into disuse and has not been revived, 
except as an occasional and profitable recreation. 

Modern Ideas of Geography. — Popular ideas of geographi- 
cal teaching have changed materially within recent years. 
It is no longer the sole purpose to impart a knowledge of 
names, places, and boundaries, but to stimulate thought and 
inquiry, and to lead the pupil to a broader, better view of 
the great, living world of nations and peoples, with its 
varied resources, and its material, intellectual, and moral 
interests. 

Modern Recreations in Geography. — The geographical rec- 
reations of the present day are numerous and engaging. 
Modern geography addresses itself to the youngest pupils, 
from their first admission to the school — long before they 
enter upon the study of a text-book on the subject; and in 
the correlation of studies of the present day, it is continued 
in some form throughout the course. In its relation to home 
and school surroundings, and, later, to history, past and 
current, and to the various natural sciences, it is a source 
of unfailing interest ; and the recreations of which it admits 
are inexhaustible. 

Orientation. — We have borrowed from the French and 
the Germans an expression which means the determina- 
tion of the cardinal points of the compass. This is gen- 
erally the first geographical lesson of the young pupil. He 
is taught to orient himself. A familiar picture represents a 
small child standing on an elevated place in the open air, in 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 85 

the early morning, pointing with the right hand to the ris- 
ing sun. His left hand is pointed to the west, where the 
sun will set. He faces the north, squarely, and his back is 
turned to the south. The picture makes a lasting impres- 
sion upon the child ; and Horace Mann has made use of the 
came idea in one of his famous addresses, as a moral in- 
spiration to young men. " Young man," he exclaims, " open 
your heart before me for one moment, and let me write upon 
it these parting words : The gracious God has just called 
you into being ; and during the few days you have lived, the 
greatest lesson you have learned is that you shall never die. 
All around your body the earth lies open and free, and you 
can go where you will. All around your spirit the universe 
lies open and free, and you can go where you will. Orient 
yourself! " 

Home Geography. — The geography of the home, the school, 
and the neighborhood may be taught either with or without 
a text-book. However, it should precede in oral lessons the 
use of a book by the pupil, beginning in fact with his first 
advent at the school. When the pupil has learned to write 
and to draw, a pencil and notebook can be employed in 
early geographical lessons, in the drawing of simple maps 
of the school grounds and vicinity, and in making brief 
notes (under the teacher's direction) of the oral lessons on 
the subject. 

A suitable syllabus for oral lessons, preceding the use of 
a text-book in geography, will contain many stibjects which 
may be illustrated by objects and by drawings on the black- 
board, and will prove delightful recreations for the pupils of 
the first three or four grades. The following are a few of 
these : 

A compass should be exhibited, and its importance ex- 
plained; its great value to sailors, and its influence in 
extending navigation in early times. The means of orien- 
tation at night by finding the North Star (when the sky is 
clear) should be explained, and the position of the Dipper, 



86 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

-with its " pointers " indicating the position of the North 
Star, should be shown upon the board. 

The idea of length should be developed by a measuring 
stick with inches, feet, and yards marked upon it. The 
judgment of length is cultivated by guesses of the length of 
objects, with tests following. 

The determination of the time of day as told by a clock 
or watch should be explained and illustrated. A clock face, 
the hands of which may be easily moved to illustrate the 
various hours, is an excellent piece of apparatus for the 
purpose. In this connection the value of modern timepieces 
should be shown, and the older methods of measuring time 
illustrated by the use of a sandglass and a description of 
King Arthur's notched candles, as well as of sundials, 
which are still to be seen at times in parks and gardens. 
The use of sun marks on window sills may be illustrated, 
and it should be explained that there is generally a per- 
ceptible difference between high noon (noon by the sun) and 
noon by the clock, even where local time is adopted. The 
meaning of standard time should be made clear to young 
pupils. The ideas of time should be developed by noting 
the lapse of seconds and of minutes, accurately determined. 
The names of the days of the week and the names of the 
months also should be taught by a calendar. 

Geographical Readings by the Teacher. — ■ Descriptive selec- 
tions may be read to young pupils from time to time from 
some interesting and suitable book. The child will be espe- 
cially delighted to learn of the conditions and surroundings 
of the people in strange and distant lands ; of modes of life 
unlike his own ; of the natural features of countries which 
present a strong contrast to the scenes with which he is famil- 
iar. Books suitable for the purpose, and happily adapted 
to interest and instruct without bewildering the young pupil, 
are numerous and can be easily obtained by any teacher. 

Supplementary Reading for Pupils in Geography. — Supple- 
mentary reading in relation to geography should be con- 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 87 

tinued through the various grades. Brief selections may 
be read from time to time, either by the teacher or by some 
good reader of the class, in connection with the recitations. 
As a rule, however, it will be better for the teacher to direct 
the pupils in their general reading, so that time may be 
saved in the period of recitation. Then a mere reference 
may be made to the book or extract, when the subject to 
which it is related is presented to the class, and the pupils 
who have followed the suggestions of the teacher will readily 
understand the reference and perhaps will offer brief com- 
ments upon the composition. There are many short poems 
in American literature referring to geographical locations 
and to incidents connected with both geography and history. 
Among these are the following, to which the authors' names 
are attached : 



Barbara Frietchie ......... John G. Whittier. 

Skipper Ireson's Ride . . . John G. Whittier. 

The Lake of the Dismal Swamp .... Thomas Moore. 

Rhode Island Coal AYilliam Cullen Bryant. 

Monument Mountain . William Cullen Bryant. 

The Fisherman of Beaufort ...... Francis D. Gage. 

The Nadowessie Chieftain Schiller. 

The Catawba River J. S. Kidney. 

Through Minnehaha's Veil ...... Lucy Larcom. 

My Merrimac ....... ... Lucy Larcom. 

A Prairie Nest , . Lucy Larcom. 

The Wreck. . , T. H. McHaughton. 

Dolores . C. F. Woolson. 

On the Heights of Mission Ridge . . . . J. A. Signaigo. 

The Old Jewish Cemetery at Newport . . . Henry W. Longfellow. 

The Skeleton in Armor ....... Henry W. Longfellow. 

The Armory at Springfield ...... Henry W. Longfellow. 

By Chickamauga River ....... Hezekiah Butterworth. 

Lookout Mountain . George D. Prentice. 

The Mammoth Cave ........ George D. Prentice. 

Seneca Lake George D. Prentice. 

Memphis . . , . . John T. Trowbridge. 

Kit Carson's Ride .,,..,.,« Joaquin Miller, 



88 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Longfellow's collection of lyrics entitled Poems of Place 
is almost indispensable to the teacher for use in the man- 
ner indicated, and should constitute a part of the library 
of every school. Poems of place relating to Europe are 
common everywhere. Mrs. Norton's Bingen on the Rhine, 
Robert Browning's Ride from Ghent to Aix, Longfellow's 
Nuremberg, and scores of others, are easily accessible. 
Chilcle Harold's Pilgrimage will supply a series of beauti- 
ful poetical descriptions relating to places of historical 
interest in Europe. 

In the teaching of geography it should be the object to 
induce the pupil to learn, not only what is contained in the 
text-book', but also something of the many interesting and 
curious facts, scraps of history and of folklore, that no 
single text-book should or could contain. In other words, 
in geography as in other topics, the pupil should be led to 
learn all he can learn with profit in relation to the subject. 

Narratives of travel possess a charm for young readers. 
When skillfully and naturally written, they may be filled 
with geographical and historical information, and also with 
valuable moral lessons. Centuries ago it became the task 
of Fenelon, the great master of French prose, to instruct the 
grandson of the king of France in the subjects of classical 
geography, history, and mythology — studies which were 
accounted dull by most of the pupils of that day. The 
royal pupil of Fenelon was at first neither studious nor 
tractable. His teacher, however, found a means of awaken- 
ing his interest, and soon transformed him into a most will- 
ing and diligent student. The means employed was the 
preparation of a narrative of great interest entitled The 
Adventures of Telemaque, which related the supposititious 
wanderings of the son of Ulysses throughout the ancient 
world in search of his lost father. Telemaque was repre- 
sented as visiting many lands, and learning the history of 
each in his travels. 

A great boon to American boys 'and girls were the juvenile 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 89 

books of travel prepared in this country by Jacob Abbott, 
in the earlier decades. While the political and social con- 
ditions have changed in various countries since these books 
were written, the volumes are still prized by the young, and 
form a valuable aid to geographical study. Following Mr. 
Abbott, a number of other authors have written charming 
books of travel, combining entertainment with instruction, 
and having the same general purpose, though differing 
widely in plan. Among the most striking of these are the 
volumes of European travel comprising the series entitled, 
Young America Abroad, by William T. Adams (Oliver 
Optic). For older pupils more solid works of standard 
literature should be accessible. Among the books suitable 
for a school library, which throw light upon the subject of 
geography and afford entertaining and instructive reading 
in relation to the study, are the following: 

The Florence Stories Jacob Abbott. 

Polio's Tour in Europe . . . ■ Jacob Abbott. 

The Marco Paul Books Jacob Abbott. 

The Young Yagers Capt. Mayne Keid. 

The Cliff Climbers Capt. Mayne Reid. 

Odd People Capt. Mayne Reid. 

Afloat in the Forest Capt. Mayne Reid. 

Young America Abroad William T. Adams. 

The Boy Travelers Knox. 

Young Folks Abroad McCabe. 

Little People of Asia . Miller. 

Homes of Americans Lamb. 

Northern Pacific Railroad Smalley. 

The New South King. 

Brazil Smith. 

South America Bates. 

Africa Jones. 

Up the Nile Edwards. 

Egypt Loring. 

China Colquhoun. 

The Middle Kingdom Williams. 

Illustrated India Stone. 

Japan and the Japanese Humbert. 



90 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

China and Japan Oliver. 

The Far East Macleod. 

Rivers of France Turner. 

A Tour of Greece Farrar. 

Voyage in the Sunbeam Mrs. Brassey. 

Land of the Midnight Sun Du Chaillu. 

Spanish Vistas Lathrop. 

Alaska Jackson. 

Across the Continent Bowles. 

Life in the Rocky Mountains Miss Bird. 

Three Years in Mexico Stephens. 

Greenland Bink. 

Home Life in Germany Brace. , 

Walks in Rome Hare. 

Russia Wallace. 

Boys of Other Countries Taylor. 

Through and Through the Tropics Vincent. 

The Bottom of the Sea Sourel. 

Algeria Herbert. 

The West Porter. 

Romance of Natural History Gosse. 

Animal Sagacity Hall. 

Earth, Sea, and Sky Northrop. 

The Water World Van Dervoort. 

Zigzag Journeys Butterworth. 

Days and Nights in the Tropics Oswald. 

Spectacles for Young Eyes Sander. 

Imaginary Journeys of the Classes. — Imaginary journeys 
of the teacher and class add vividness to descriptions and 
give connection to ideas. 

With very young pupils in a country or village school, the 
imaginary journeys may include only a walk down a road or 
street already somewhat familiar to all. It may be extended 
later into a visit to some neighboring town or city, or a trip 
by rail or by steamboat, and still later into excursions to 
other States and countries. The following pertinent sug- 
gestion is contained in the Report of the Committee of Ten : 

" The teacher can economize time in recitation by using 
the facts gained by a study of the assigned lesson as a point 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 91 

of departure for the purpose of leading on to additional 
facts and causes and results, for making comparisons, and 
for stimulating fresh thought upon the subject, instead of 
going over the subject solely to test the pupils' memory and 
faithfulness. As an illustration, the class having learned 
what they can about the Mississippi River, instead of spend- 
ing half an hour asking pupils in turn the length of the 
river, where it rises, between what States it flows, and into 
what body of water it empties, the teacher and the class 
may take an imaginary ride from the Falls of St. Anthony 
down the river, and develop the facts connected with its 
course and their applications in a graphic and realistic way 
from the imaginary deck of a steamer." 

Imaginary journeys should include a description of the 
country through which they are made ; its natural features, 
the character of its soil and products ; the scenery to be 
viewed; the cities and other notable places of interest 
through which the journey lies. The journey by rail from 
New York to Chicago will suppose a passage through the 
garden State of New Jersey, the coal, iron, and wheat tracts 
of Pennsylvania, the farming lands of Ohio and Indiana, 
and the lake shore of Illinois. The varied resources and in- 
dustries of the region through which this route passes ; the 
rivers and mountains, and their characteristics ; the size of 
the various cities, some of their famous buildings, salient 
points of their history, and the more notable advantages 
which they possess for trade, manufacture, and other indus- 
tries ; the elevation and drainage of the various tracts ; con- 
necting lines of transportation at different points, etc., may 
be considered connectedly in this manner. 

For the older pupils an imaginary journey through Europe, 
including the leading points of interest in each country, will 
prove a source of delight, and will greatly heighten the pleas- 
ure which may be derived, later, by those who may have an 
opportunity to make a real visit to any of the countries thus 
studied. 



92 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Chart Journeys. — Entertaining charts/ which may be used 
with young pupils for ideal journeys, can be procured in the 
form of bird's-eye views — colored pictures, which appeal 
strongly to the eye, and which represent in miniature the 
natural features of the land and water, together with cities, 
railways and canals, bridges and tunnels, aqueducts, mines 
and derricks, oil wells, factories, elevators, etc. 

Sample Products. — Teachers often add interest to the 
study of localities by exhibiting samples of their products. 
Thus specimens of growing cotton are subjects of curious 
interest in our Northern States, as are minerals from the 
mining regions, to pupils where mines are unknown. 

Samples of anthracite and bituminous coal, block, and 
cannel coal should be exhibited to pupils, in connection 
with the study of the States from which, chiefly, these 
products are obtained; also vials of the crude petroleum 
and of quicksilver, and specimens of the principal ores for 
which localities are famous. 

Small vials of port and sherry wines, and of olive oil, 
with samples of olives, pomegranates, and raisins, and Span- 
ish (merino) wool, have been used at times, to illustrate the 
industries of Spain and Portugal ; dates and tamarinds, and 
bits of leather, to illustrate the exports of Morocco ; small 
samples of teas, porcelain ware, fans, dolls, and various 
characteristic manufactured articles, to illustrate the prod- 
ucts of China, etc. Coins and postage stamps of foreign 
nations possess considerable interest, and are not difficult to 
obtain. School books of foreign countries (which are almost 
invariably inferior in appearance to those used in the United 
States) are of interest in connection with the study of such 
countries, as also are foreign newspapers and periodicals. 

Observation of the Weather. — Whether physical geog- 
raphy be or be not taught in any school as a distinct 



1 The geographical chart prepared to accompany Monteith's Geographi- 
cal Reader will he found valuable for this purpose. 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 93 

study, the pupils of the school should acquire some prac- 
tical knowledge of meteorology and climatic conditions. 
Generally the teacher can add materially to the statements 
on the subjects which are contained in the text-book of geog- 
raphy in use. Every school is supposed to be supplied with 
a thermometer, and the pupils should become accustomed to 
the intelligent use of this instrument. It is well for them 
to become acquainted with the barometer also. It will be 
a good plan for them to observe systematically, and to 
record for a few days, the readings of these instruments. 
The use of weather maps of the Signal Service should be 
explained and illustrated. The whole process of evapora- 
tion, cloud formation, and the precipitation of rain, hail, 
and snow, may be easily explained and illustrated by 
familiar examples. 

An excellent opportunity for teaching these subjects is 
offered on a rainy day. A wet garment is hung up to dry, 
and the question suggests itself, What has become of the 
water which has thus disappeared ? The indications of a 
coming storm will be found generally in a barometer and 
thermometer. The teacher who has a knowledge of the 
different forms of clouds, and their height above the ground, 
can impart this knowledge best by pointing to the specific 
forms of clouds while describing them. The distance of 
the lightning stroke, as measured by the interval elapsing 
between the flash and the accompanying report, can be 
calculated at the time of the storm, and will frequently be 
a means of relief to the more timid of the pupils at such 
times. The first snowstorm offers an excellent opportunity 
for explaining the formation of snow and ice, and some- 
thing of the crystals which compose them. The deposition 
of the dew, and also the use of the hydrometer, may be 
explained advantageously, if the teacher be in possession of 
that instrument. 

The signal service of the United States has been devel- 
oped to a very high state of efficiency within recent years, 



94 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

and the state of the weather is predicted with great confi- 
dence for some time in advance. The greater part of the 
adult population has become acquainted with the estab- 
lished signals relating to the weather, and these should 
be explained to the pupils of every school. The various 
weather flags and their significance can be drawn upon the 
blackboard or reproduced in cloth for use in such instruc- 
tion. 

In studying the climates of the various nations, attention 
should be given to the climatic influences, not only upon 
the occupations, dress, and social habits of the people, but 
also upon their dispositions, their character, and their 
amusements. 

Duplicate Geographical Names. — In a number of instances 
the names given in school geographies are not the only ones 
applied to the same geographical use. European dispatches 
sometimes refer to the German Ocean, meaning the North 
Sea. Mention is made occasionally of the Vermilion Sea, 
when the Gulf of California is intended. References to 
Surinam are not always understood as referring to Dutch 
Guiana. The ancient name Euxine is still applied, some- 
times, to the Black Sea. The old name New Holland, for- 
merly given to Australia, is yet met with occasionally. 
Other instances of names unfamiliar to the classes in geog- 
raphy may be added to these. Such names may be given 
to pupils as a test of their ability to hunt out the meanings 
and application. 

Poetical Names of Countries. — In poetry and song we find 
that many lands are called by unofficial names, generally 
of Latin form, and often the designations employed in ages 
past. Thus Wales is spoken of as Cambria ; a part of the 
Austrian Empire, as Pannonia ; England, as Britannia ; 
Scotland, as Caledonia or Scotia; Greece, as Hellas; Ger- 
many, as Germania; Ireland, as Hibernia; Holland, as 
Batavia; Switzerland, as Helvetia; Spain, as Iberia; the 
United States, as Columbia, etc. 



GEOGBAPEICAL RECREATIONS 95 

In order that the pupil may understand poetical allusions, 
it is important that these designations be explained by 
the teacher ; for often the pupil will not find the meanings 
otherwise. 

National Airs. — National songs and marches are of inter- 
est in connection with the study of the countries to which 
they relate, and of these appropriate mention may be made. 
The Watch on the Rhine of the Germans, the Marseillaise 
Hymn of the French, the Russian March, God Save the 
Emperor Francis of the Austrians, God Save the Queen and 
Rule, Britannia, of the British, Yankee Doodle, Dixie's Land, 
and America of our own nation, and others, are all more or 
less familiar. 

Foreign Names of Cities. — The names of cities in foreign 
lands are not always spelled or pronounced in English as 
they are in the countries in which the cities themselves are 
located. Frequently the difference in the spelling is such 
that the foreign name is not recognized from any resem- 
blance which it bears to the English orthography. The 
following are a few instances of the various forms of the 
same name : 

English. Foreign. 

Copenhagen Kjobenhavn. 

Cologne Koln. 

Florence Firenze. 

Leghorn Livorno. 

Antwerp Anvers. 

Ghent Gand. 

Warsaw Varsovie. 

Vienna Wien. 

Constantinople Stamboul. 

Morocco Maroc. 

Naples Napoli. 

Venice Venezia. 

Lisbon Lisboa. 

Lyons Lyonnais. 

Leipsic Leipzig. 

Havana Habana. 



96 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

The foreign forms of such, names will possess interest to 
pupils of an advanced class. Often these forms are to be 
seen in the mailing stamps of letters received from the Old 
World, in trade-marks upon imported articles of commerce, 
and in the imprint upon the title-pages of books printed in 
other countries. 

The Meanings of Geographical Terms. — The etymologies 
of geographical names are often interesting and significant. 
It is unknown to many scholars that one of our States is 
named indirectly for Julius Csesar. The word Jersey is a 
corruption of Ccesaria, which in ancient times was conferred 
upon one of the islands in the English Channel in honor of 
the great Eoman conqueror. Since New Jersey derived its 
name from that island, the Latin form of the name of the 
State is Nova (new) Ccesaria. 

Chester or caster, in the terminations of various names of 
cities (as Winchester, Colchester, Lancaster, etc.), is a cor- 
ruption of the Latin word castra, meaning a " camp," and is 
a relic of the Eoman conquest of Britain. 

York is a corruption of the Latin name Eboracum, applied 
to a town in ancient Britain. The Latin name of New York 
is Novum Eboracum. 

Philadelphia, derived from two Greek words, signifies 
" brotherly love." 

Ben is an old Celtic word, signifying a "hill" or "moun- 
tain," and is found in Benlomond, Bennevis, etc. 

Polls (sometimes corrupted into pie or abbreviated into 
poT) is a Greek word signifying " city." It is seen in such 
names as Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Annapolis, Constanti- 
nople, Adrianople, Sebastopol, etc. 

Burg, burgh, borough, boro, bury, etc., are derived from an 
old Germanic word meaning a " castle " or " fortification." 
These endings are found in many names of cities and coun- 
ties, as Pittsburg, Edinburgh, Middlebury, Murfreesboro, 
Hamburg, etc. An etymological vocabulary of modern 
geographical names was contained in Webster's Unabridged 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 97 

Dictionary, but has been dropped^ from the International. 
The original significance of geographical names is not of 
much importance. In the case of names derived from 
ancient Latin terms, the original forms are still used in 
compositions written in Latin, such as diplomas of col- 
leges, and certain other documents ; and sometimes they 
appear on official seals. 

Sportive Geographical Names. — The American love of 
humor is seen in the sportive appellations given to cer- 
tain of our States. Some of these are to be found among 
the following popular designations : 

Maine The Pine Tree State. 

New Hampshire .... The Old Granite State. 

Vermont The Green Mountain State. 

Massachusetts . .. . . . The Bay State. 

Connecticut The Nutmeg State. 

Khode Island Little Rhody. 

New York The Empire State. 

New Jersey The Garden State. 

Pennsylvania The Keystone State. 

Delaware The Blue Hen. 

Virginia The Old Dominion. 

North Carolina .... The Old North State. 

South Carolina .... The Palmetto State. 

Indiana - . The Hoosier State. 

Kentucky The Dark and Bloody Ground. 

Michigan The Wolverine State. 

Wisconsin ...... The Badger State. 

Iowa . . The Hawkeye State. 

California The Golden State. 

Many American cities have acquired humorous or poetic 
designations, which have become popularized throughout the 
country. Among these are the following : 

New York City .... Gotham. 

Boston The Hub. 

Philadelphia The City of Brotherly Love. 

Pittsburg The Smoky City. 

SCH. EEC. & AMUS. — 7 



98 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Chicago The Garden City. 

Cincinnati The Queen City. 

Detroit The City of the Straits. 

New Orleans The Crescent City. 

Lowell The City of Spindles. 

Nashville The City of Eocks. 

Duluth The Zenith City. 

New Haven The City of Elms. 

Little Kock The City of Roses. 

Indian Names. — About half the States and Territories of 
the Union have names derived from the language of the 
aborigines, and the same is true of a great number of cities, 
towns, and counties. In thousands of instances the old 
Indian names are retained for mountains, hills, rivers, water- 
falls, etc. Generally these names are musical in sound and 
apposite in their meaning. There is an increasing disposi- 
tion to restore Indian names of localities which have been 
discarded. When the red man shall have disappeared, 
traces of his occupation will be found in every part of the 
country in the beautiful descriptive names which he bestowed. 
The following examples are illustrative of the poetical char- 
acter of these designations : 

Alabama, meaning " Here we rest." 

Alleghany, " " River of the Alligewi tribe." 

Athabasca, " " Swampy." 

Connecticut, " " Upon the long river. " 

Chautauqua, " " Foggy place. " 

Dakota, " "Allied." 

Illinois, " " Tribe of men." 

Iowa, " " The sleepy ones." 

Katahdin, " " The highest place." 

Michigan, " " Weir for fish." 

Massachusetts, " " The blue hills." 

Merrimac, " " The swift river. " 

Mississippi, " " The great and long river." 

Missouri, " " Great and muddy." 

Minnesota, " " Foaming water. " 

Minnehaha, " " Laughing water. ' ' 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 99 

Nahant, meaning " At the point." 

Nebraska, " " Shallow water." 

Nashota, " "Twins." 

Niagara, " " Neck of water. " 

Ottawa, " "Traders." 

Ohio, " "The beautiful." 

Ontario, " "A village on a mountain." 

Penobscot, " "Rock-lined." 

Poughkeepsie, " " Shallow inlet. ' ' 

Rappahannock, " " River of quick-rising waters. " 

Roanoke, " " Seashell." 

Sandusky, " " Cold spring." 

Saratoga, " " Miraculous water in a rock." 

Tennessee, " " River of the big bend." 

Wisconsin, " " Wild rushing channel." 

Wachusett, " " The mountain." 

The following poem, by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, expresses the 
fondness of Americans for the Indian names : 

Ye say they all have passed away, 

That noble race and brave, 
That their light canoes have vanished 

Prom off the crested wave ; 
That 'mid the forest where they roamed 

There rings no hunter's shout ; 
But their name is on your waters, 

You may not wash it out. 

'Tis where Ontario's billow 

Like ocean's surge is curled, 
Where strong Niagara's thunders wake 

The echo of the world ; 
Where red Missouri bringeth 

Rich tribute from the west, 
And Rappahannock sweetly sleeps 

On green Virginia's breast. 

Ye say their cone-like cabins, 

That clustered o'er the vale, 
Have fled away like withered leaves 

Before the autumn's gale ; 



100 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

But their memory liveth on your hills, 

Their baptism on your shore, 
Your everlasting rivers speak 

Their dialect of yore. 

Old Massachusetts wears it 

Within her lordly crown, 
And broad Ohio bears it 

'Mid all her young renown ; 
Connecticut hath wreathed it 

Where her quiet foliage waves, 
And bold Kentucky breathes it hoarse 

Through all her ancient caves. 

Wachuset hides its lingering voice 

Within his rocky heart, 
And Alleghany graves its tone 

Throughout his lofty chart. 
Monadnock on his forehead hoar 

Doth seal the sacred trust — 
Your mountains build their monument, 

Though ye destroy their dust. 

The Pronunciation of Geographical Names. — There can be 
no general rule for the spelling or pronunciation of geo- 
graphical names. Many circumstances have to be taken 
into consideration by the lexicographer or the geographer 
in giving the weight of his authority to the orthography in 
any case of divided usage. 

Originally most geographical names possessed a signifi- 
cance of their own. In very many instances this is now 
perverted or wholly lost. As population shifts, and differ- 
ent languages successively prevail in the same region, the 
geographical names undergo marked changes of pronuncia- 
tion, and often of spelling as well. The Romans gave the 
name Alta Ripa (meaning " high bank ") to a place on the 
Rhine River. The Germans, who later occupied the spot, 
did not catch the name exactly, and called the name 
Altrippen, which signifies "old ribs." Similarly, the English 
in Britain did not quite apprehend the name of the Hills of 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 101 

Ostarius (so called for the Roman general of that name who 
occupied them in ancient days), but called them Oyster 
Hills. 

The Norman-French conquerors of England gave the name 
Chateau Vert (meaning " green castle ") to a striking and 
beautiful hill in Oxfordshire. The English, neither under- 
standing the meaning nor quite catching the sound of this 
French name, called the hill Shotover. 

In our own country the French, who formerly owned the 
valley of the Mississippi, have left to us a number of names 
which American settlers did not pronounce after the manner 
of the French — though they retained the original spelling ; 
such names as Joliet, Des Plaines, Prairie du Chien, Du- 
buque, etc. In some instances we have made a compromise 
in the matter of pronunciation, as in the case of Charlevoix, 
St. Croix, Illinois, etc. 

In instances where the change in population was not 
abrupt, and where there has been a continuous population 
to hand down the original pronunciation, the latter has been 
retained. Such an instance is that of Arkansas, which was 
first settled more than two centuries ago, and in which a 
continuous white population, gradually merging from French 
to English, handed down the old pronunciation " Arkansaw." 

Sometimes the historic pronunciation of a word is changed 
through carelessness in transplanting it to a new country. 
The name Elgin, in Scotland, is pronounced with the hard 
sound of the letter g. When applied to a city in Illinois, it 
was pronounced as though it were spelt Eljin, the change 
arising accidentally through a want of familiarity with the 
Scotch usage. In the same way the name of Cairo, in 
Illinois, although derived from the capital city of Egypt, 
has acquired a distinct pronunciation of its own. 

There are many similar instances throughout the country. 
The development of the United States has been so rapid 
that men and companies engaged in opening up to settle- 
ment new tracts of country have been at a loss to meet the 



102 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

requirement for new names of stations and towns, and have 
had recourse to maps of the Old World, selecting often at 
random names of which the true pronunciation was unfa- 
miliar. Sometimes there have been later attempts to revert 
to the original pronunciation. While these have been in a 
measure successful in some instances, they have generally 
failed. In a number of cases the names of cities, towns, 
etc. are variously pronounced, and their true pronunciation 
is a matter of opinion, the arguments in the case being 
nearly balanced, and the opinions of authorities disagreeing. 

Later Tendencies of Geographical Pronunciation. — In the 
matter of foreign names there is now a tendency to spell 
and to pronounce them more nearly in accordance with the 
usage of the countries to which they relate. The name of 
the long and narrow South American republic is now more 
frequently written Chile (instead of Chili), and pronounced 
in the Spanish way. There is a growing disposition to make 
two syllables of the name of the German river Elbe. Various 
instances of this tendency are to be seen, though sweeping 
changes of this nature are not apt to be suddenly made. 

Much more attention is paid now than formerly in schools 
to the correct pronunciation of geographical names, accord- 
ing to the best authorities. As a geographical recreation, 
an occasional review exercise in the spelling or pronuncia- 
tion of such names is both interesting and profitable. 

Some Curious Geographical Names. — Amusing accounts 
are given of the origin of some geographical names, as the 
following will show : 

An early exploring party of Spaniards, passing the great 
peninsula at the south entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, made 
a brief landing to inquire the name of the country, but 
neglected to ascertain if they were understood. 

" What is the name of this country ? " was asked of the 
first native they met. 

" Juca tan ? " (" What do you say ? ") was asked in turn in 
the native tongue. 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 103 

"The natives say the name of the country is Yucatan," 
reported the well-satisfied investigators. This name the 
peninsula has borne from that day. 

When Lewis Cass, the great statesman of Michigan, was 
exploring the head waters of the Mississippi, many years 
ago, he determined to give to the lake a name which should 
indicate that it was the true head of the great river. 

"What are the Latin words for true head?" he asked of 
the most scholarly of his companions. 

"Veritas and caput" was the blundering reply. Veritas- 
caput being deemed too long a name, the word was clipped 
at both ends, and the name Itasca was applied to the 
lake. 

Had the reply been correct, and the word verum substi- 
tuted for Veritas, probably we now should be calling the lake 
by the less euphonious name of Umca. 

It will be remembered that the name America was applied 
originally to this country in error, thus giving to a pickle 
dealer of Seville, in Spain, the honor which should have 
belonged to Columbus. 

Humorous Geographical Pictures. — Clever artists have 
sometimes amused pupils by comparing outline maps of 
geographical divisions with drawings of various figures of 
similar shape. Often this can be done by a few skillful 
strokes of the crayon. Thus Italy is compared to a long 
hunting boot, France to an ice pitcher, ISTew York to a lion, 
Virginia to a camel, Lake Ontario to a seal, Lakes Erie and 
St. Clair to a whale, the Adriatic Sea to the same, the Sea 
of Japan to a rabbit, Corsica to a hand, New Guinea to a 
guinea fowl, etc. 

Such drawings afford amusement, and help to fix in the 
mind the figures of the divisions thus compared. Following 
are some of the drawings above described : * 



1 These drawings are taken, for the most part, from Monteith's Manual 
of Geography . 



104 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 







GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 



105 





106 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 






GEO GBAPHICAL EECEEA TIONS 



107 






*\ 


K 


? W 




<<> ":■ \ ^— ' j 




t? i \ / 



108 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Modeling Relief Maps. — Clay and sand modeling, which 
are employed extensively in some countries in the study of 
geography, are coining into more general favor in the United 
States, although, unfortunately, they have not met with very 
general acceptance. Damp clay and wet sand are admirably 
suited for the construction of relief maps. Plaster of Paris 
is sometimes used for this purpose, but without success in 
many cases, since it becomes hard too quickly. 

Modeling clay is used on a flat surface, and is modeled 
into relief illustrative of the various regions studied. The 
same clay may be used many times by the same pupil. The 
map is to be compared with an accurate model, and corrected 
as often as may be necessary. The construction of such a 
map will effectually fix in the mind the principal slopes, 
mountain ranges, and river systems. The more important 
cities may be indicated, thus completing the work. 

The principal objection to this form of work is that it 
requires too much time. Many experiments and essays 
must be made before the pupil acquires sufficient skill to 
construct such a map with accuracy, even though he have a 
good idea as to what he is to do. Often it is found best to 
encourage the pupil to perforin such work at home, and out 
of school hours. Where it is deemed impracticable for the 
pupils generally to model in clay, it is still desirable that 
samples of such work be exhibited to them, and nearly 
always there will be some pupils who are favorably situated 
for such work, and who will gladly prepare the specimens if 
encouraged by the teacher to do so. 

Relief Globes. — Relief globes for school use are of recent 
manufacture, and are exceedingly desirable for any school. 
Unfortunately, their cost at the present time" renders them 
unavailable for very general use. 

Outline Maps. — Outline maps on slate surfaces, to be filled 
in by the use of crayons, have not become very popular in 
this country, although they are used extensively in Europe. 
It is an excellent exercise for the pupil to draw the outline 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 109 

as well as the internal features of a country. But the draw- 
ing of coast lines is slow and somewhat laborious, and ought 
not to be repeated frequently, while various uses might be 
made of the same outline in the representation of political 
divisions, relief, and the distribution of coal fields, and of 
important agricultural products, etc. 

Outline maps in cheap form (in sheets) can be procured, 
to be filled in by the pencil, and can be used in various ways. 
A set of five such maps of the United States may be made to 
form a series, as follows : 

The first, showing the different States, their capitals, and 
two or three other (principal) cities of each State; also 
the principal mountains, rivers, and railway lines of the 
country. 

The second, showing the distribution of the principal 
mineral resources of the country. 

The third, showing the distribution of the principal agri- 
cultural products, and of the common forest trees. 

The fourth, showing the distribution of the more impor- 
tant domestic animals, and of some of the wild animals. 

The fifth, showing the original territory of the United 
States, and the successive accessions thereto. 

Each State is to be marked with the date of its admission 
to the Union, and also (generally) with the date of its earli- 
est settlement. 

Pale colors may be used advantageously in some of these 
maps. Map drawing, when neatly performed, may prove a 
very satisfactory recreation, and specimens of good work in 
this line are well worth preserving. 

Modern Text-books of Geography. — The study of geog- 
raphy has been practically revolutionized within a recent 
period. Every possible aid is now given to the study of 
that subject, and many different methods are employed in 
its presentation. The modern text-book is in itself a mar- 
vel. It not only presents the natural features of the 
earth's surface, the political divisions, and the location of 



110 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

the various points of geographical interest, but considers 
also the nature and condition of the soil; the physical, 
and to some extent the geological, features of the various 
countries. It treats of their resources — natural and indus- 
trial — and to some extent of the character of their civili- 
zation. 

Variety in the Recitation. — It would seem that but little 
can be added to make the study more effective or more 
attractive. There are some features, however, which it 
might be well to emphasize. A change in the manner of 
recitation, from time to time, is an excellent thing. Proba- 
bly this is more necessary in geography than in any other 
study, for there has been a strong tendency to routine work 
in this branch. Among the variations, or recreations, which 
may be employed is the following, which presupposes on 
the part of the teacher the ability to draw maps, and to 
draw them quickly and accurately. After the class has 
studied a given map, or a set of maps, let the teacher 
sketch rapidly upon the board a map of some geographical 
division. As he proceeds, let the pupils give the name of 
the country. The teacher can then sketch in, as rapidly as 
possible, the principal rivers, mountains, cities, etc., and, 
if the map be of an entire country, the various political 
divisions — the pupils naming these as soon as they are 
drawn. If the naming be done in concert, there will be 
some in the class who will do all the work, of course. This 
may be avoided by calling upon different pupils for the 
names, as the work of sketching proceeds. 

Observational Geography. — The study of the configuration 
of the earth's surface may well begin with the surrounding 
locality. Here the teacher in the country has the advan- 
tage. In the city — the large city — all is artificial. The 
streets are made level ; the watershed is the gutter, con- 
structed in accordance with surveys; all the surface water 
is carried to the sewers. On all sides are the results of 
the labors of men. In the country, however, everything is 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 111 

open to the inspection and investigation of the teacher 
and his class. Many localities are especially adapted to 
the study of geography from nature. It is possible that 
some sections of the country are so little diversified that 
but little can be learned from observation of the slope of 
the ground. This is true of large portions of certain 
States in the West. Ordinarily, however, the class may 
learn the direction of the water courses from the ravines 
and the little streams, and can determine thus the general 
slope of the ground. The pupils will learn, too, how river 
beds are formed and how deposits are made in them. 
Much may be learned of the character of the soil, the 
subsoil and the rocks underneath. The growth of the 
native plants may be studied and the differences noted 
between those that grow on the hills and those that are 
found in the marshes or river bottoms. The township, and 
even the county perhaps, may be made the basis for the 
practical study of geography by observation. The pupils 
should be trained in all their powers of observation, and 
their investigations should be as thorough as if they were 
exploring an entirely new country of which a map was to 
be made the first time. 

Compositions on Geographical Topics. — There is nothing 
that will fix so well in the pupil's mind the things about 
which he has been studying, as a composition of his own. 
It is a good plan for pupils of higher classes, especially, to 
prepare compositions that will embody all of the pupil's 
knowledge upon a given subject, and that will cause him to 
make an effort to increase his stock of knowledge. The sub- 
jects for such compositions may be taken from all parts of the 
geography. A brief list which is appended here will illus- 
trate how much may properly be included in these essays. 



Oyster Farming. 
Coal Mining. 
Farming in the West. 
How Shoes are Made. 



Salmon Fishing. 

The Manufacture of Iron. 

Copper Mining. 

Log Cutting and Lumber Making. 



112 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



Ocean Currents. 

The New York Central Railway. 

Clouds. 

Deep-sea Life. 

Trade Winds. 

Japan. 

Life on a Ranch. 



Sugar Making. 

A California Fruit Farm. 

The Industries of the Middle 

States. 
How Rice and Cotton are Grown. 
Lake Ports and Lake Trade. 



Physiographic Topics. — The action of constant and inter- 
mittent springs may be illustrated by the use of siphons ; 
and constant currents of wind, by currents of heated and 
cold air. 

The pupil should learn something, too, of the formation 
of the earth's crust ; the long period of time which has been 
required for the formation ; when the successive forms of 
life appeared, and what they were. The formation of the 
mountains may be illustrated by the crashing of a sheet of 
paper. 

The location of the chief supplies of common minerals 
should be explained. The most useful of these are, in 
general, the most easily obtained, and are deposited in the 
largest quantities. An interesting talk may be given upon 
the form in which the different minerals occur. Gold is 
found pure, or nearly so ; iron, always in combination. 
Gold, by its chemical nature, forms few compounds ; espe- 
cially, it does not unite readily with oxygen. Iron forms 
compounds easily and quickly. It follows that, where gold 
is found in combination with other elements, it is very hard 
to reduce it, while iron ores may be separated with compara- 
tive ease. 

Another interesting topic for discussion (although perhaps 
sufficient time can hardly be spared to makeit a part of the 
regular recitation) is the bottom of the sea, and deep-sea 
life. The sea has its mountains and its valleys, as well as 
the land. The Atlantic cable is laid upon a mountainous 
ridge, or plateau. In some places the bottom of the ocean 
cannot be reached. Many curious forms of animal and 



GEOGRAPHICAL BECREATIONS 113 

plant life, fishes that rival the monsters of prehistoric days 
in everything except size, and strange plants that move 
about from place to place are found in the sea. 

"When teaching physical geography, the instructor should 
explain, wherever possible, the relation of geography to the 
other sciences. When teaching descriptive geography, he 
should bring in history constantly as an aid to the study. 
This should embrace not only the history of places and 
events, but also of peoples and nations. 

The Correlation of Geography and History. — The customs 
and life of the American Indians will account for their dis- 
appearance as they come in contact with a stronger race. 
In the same way the mode of living and the race character- 
istics will account for the stationary position or retrograde 
movement of the Turks in Europe during the past few 
centuries. 

Historical themes in a recitation in geography should be 
presented briefly. They may include racial peculiarities 
and national customs, with perhaps a few characteristic 
legends and beliefs. To this may be added the influence 
of geographical surroundings upon the people and their 
habits. The natural features of the earth have been the 
causes (indirect, perhaps) of the great differences existing 
among the various peoples of the world. 

Rulers of the Nations. — It is well for both teacher and 
pupils to possess some knowledge of the chief rulers of the 
leading countries of the world; also to have at hand, for 
ready reference, the names of rulers of less important po- 
litical divisions, in order that they may be able to under- 
stand the press dispatches. Sometimes very insignificant 
rulers become exceedingly prominent in the political world, 
being concerned in the interests of the great nations. The 
prominence within late years of the former queen of the 
tiny kingdom of Hawaii will not be soon forgotten. Fol- 
lowing is a list of the heads of the governments of the 
world, prepared at the beginning of the year 1895. By 

SCH. KEC. & AMUS. 8 



114 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

making note, from time to time, of any changes that occur, 
the teacher can be always supplied with this desirable infor- 
mation for ready reference. 



Abyssinia 

Afghanistan 

Annam 

Argentine Republic. 
Austria-Hungary . . . 

Baluchistan 

Belgium 

Bokhara 

Bolivia 

Borneo 

Brazil 

British Empire 

Bulgaria 

Chile 

China 

Colombia 

Congo Free State . . . 

Corea 

Costa Rica 

Denmark 

Dominica 

Dominion of Canada 

Ecuador 

Egypt 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Guatemala 

Haiti 

Hawaii 

Honduras 

India 

Italy 

Japan 

Khiva 

Liberia 

Luxemburg 

Madagascar 



OFFICIAL HEAD. 



Menelek II 

Abdur Rahman Khan. 

Bun-Can 

Sefior Uriburu 

Francis Joseph 

Mir Muhammad 

Leopold II 

Seid Abdul Ahad 

Gen. Alonzo 

Hasim Jalilal Alam 
Akamaldin 

Prudente De Moraes.. 

Victoria 

Ferdinand of Saxe- 
Coburg 

Admiral Jorge Montt. 

Kuang Hsu. 

Miguel A. Caro 

Leopold 

Li-Hsi 

Rafael Iglesias 

Christian IS 

Ulises Heureaux 

Lord Aberdeen 

Luis Cordero 

Abbas Pacha 

Francois Felix Faure . 

William II 

George I 

J. M. Reina Barrios . . 

Louis M. F. Hyppolite 

Sanford B. Dole 

Policarpo Bonilla 

Earl of Elgin . 

Humbert 

Mutsu Hito 

Seid Mehemed Eehim. 

J. J. Cheeseman 

Adolph (Duke of Nas- 
sau) 

Ranavalona III 



Emperor 

Amir 

King 

President 

Emperor 

Khan 

King 

Amir 

President 

Sultan 

President 

Empress-Queen 

Prince 

President 

Emperor 

President 

Sovereign 

King 

President 

King 

President 

Governor-General . . 

President 

Khedive 

President 

Emperor 

King 

President 

President 

President 

President 

Governor-General . . 

King 

Emperor 

Khan 

President 

Grand Duke 

Queen 



ACCESSION. 



March 12, 1SS9. 
July 22, 1880. 
January 31, 1889. 
January 22, 1895. 
December 2, 1848. 
August, 1893. 
December 10, 1865. 
November 12, 1885. 
August 17, 1894. 

May, 1885. 
November 15, 1894. 
June 20, 1837. 

August 11, 1887. 
December 26, 1891. 
January 12, 1875. 
August 10, 1894. 
April 30, 1885. 
January, 1864. 
May 8, 1894. 
November 15, 1863. 
September 1, 1886. 
September, 1893. 
July 1, 1892. 
January 7, 1892. 
January 17, 1895. 
June 15,1888. 
October 31, 1863. 
March 15, 1892. 
May 15, 1890. 
July 4, 1894. 
November, 1894. 
October, 1893. 
January 9, 1878. 
February 13, 1867. 
1865. 
January 7, 1892. 

November 23, 1890. 
July 13, 1883. 



GEOGBAPHICAL RECREATIONS 



115 



OFFICIAL HEAD. 



Mexico 

Monaco 

Montenegro 

Morocco 

Netherlands 

Nicaragua 

Orange Free State. . . 

Paraguay 

Persia 

Peru 

Portugal 

Boumania 

Eussia 

Salvador 

Samoa 

Sarawak 

Servia 

Siam 

Spain 

Sweden and Norway 

Switzerland 

Transvaal (S. African 

Republic) 

Tunis 

Turkey 

United States 

Uruguay 

Venezuela 



D. Porfirio Diaz 

Albert 

Nicholas I 

Mulai Abdul Aziz 

Wilhelmina 

Jos6 Santos Zelaya. . . 

F. W. Keitz 

Senhor Marinigo 

Nasir-ed-Din 

Andres A. Caceres . . . 

Carlos I 

Charles 

Nicholas II 

Gen. Guitierrez 

Tamasesse 

Sir James 

Brooke 

Alexander I 

Chulalongkorn I 

Alphonso XIII 

Oscar II 

Joseph Zemp 

S. J. PaulKriiger.... 

Sidi Ali Pasha 

Abdul Hamid II 

Grover Cleveland 

Idiarte Borda 

Joaquin Crespo 



President 
Prince . . . 
Prince . . . 
Sultan. . . 

Queen 

President 
President 
President 
Shah .... 
President 

King 

King 

Emperor. 
President 
King 

Eaja 

King .... 
King .... 
King .... 
King .... 
President 

President 

Bey 

Sultan . . . 
President. 
President 
President 



December 1, 1892. 
September 10, 1889. 
August 14, 1860. 
June 11, 1894. 
November 23, 1890. 
October, 1893. 
November 22, 1893. 
June 11, 1894. 
September 10, 1848. 
August 10, 1894. 
October 19, 1889. 
March 26, 1881. 
November 1, 1894. 
August 7, 1894. 
January 3, 1S94. 

June 11, 1868. 
March 6, 1889. 
October 1, 1868. 
May 17, 1886. 
September 18, 1872. 
December 15, 1894. 

May 12, 1893. 

October 28, 1882. 
August 31, 1876. 
March 4, 1893. 
March 1, 1894. 
March 14, 1894. 



Physiography. — In considering the higher study of geog- 
raphy by pupils of high schools, the Committee of Ten 
makes the following suggestion: 

The special subject of geography should take on a more advanced 
form and should relate more specifically to the features of the earth's 
surface, the agencies that produce and destroy them, the environing 
conditions under which these act, and the physical influences by which 
man and all the creatures of the earth are so profoundly affected. This 
has usually been designated physical geography. There is an advanced 
and modernized phase of it, however, which the majority of the com- 
mittee prefer to designate physiography, not because the name is im- 
portant, but because it emphasizes a special and important phase of 



116 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

the subject and of its treatment. The scientific investigations of the 
last decade have made very important additions to physiographic 
knowledge and methods of study. These are indeed so radical as to 
be properly regarded, perhaps, as revolutionary. Unfortunately they 
are not yet incorporated in text-books, in any large degree, nor are 
they, even in scientific treatises, collected into a form readily avail- 
able for the use of the teacher. As yet they are widely scattered 
through various scientific publications. But this condition will doubt- 
less be improved at an early date. Meanwhile, it is thought best that 
physical geography should be taught, by the aid of the best elemen- 
tary text-books now available, as the best geographic course previous 
to the high school, and that there should be introduced into the high- 
school course either physiography, geology, or meteorology as the 
representative of the geographic line of studies, which may be broadly 
characterized as that which relates to the physical environment of 
man. Possibly more than one of these may be practicable in some 
high schools, when alternative or elective studies are offered. 

A Minority Report by Professor Edwin J. Houston, dis- 
senting from this, contains the following paragraph : 

The Majority Eeport is characterized by a curious and persistent 
insistence as to the peculiar claims of physiography, which it styles 
advanced and modernized physical geography. 

I radically disagree with the recommendations of the Majority 
Eeport in this respect. It is not that I object so much to the use of 
the term physiography, since I agree with the Conference that names 
are of little importance, provided their significance is fully under- 
stood. To my mind, however, the word physiography is vague and 
misleading. Its meaning, as indicated by its etymology, is a drawing 
of nature, and this is the sense in which Huxley employed it to cover 
the subject matter of a certain course of lectures, on natural phenom- 
ena in general, and on the basin of the Thames in particular. Unless 
it is specifically stated as to what the natural drawing is, no precise 
meaning is conveyed by the word. 

The meaning of physiographic as an adjective is more definite ; for 
example, physiographic geology. But even here authorities are at 
variance. . . . 

Geikie defines physiographic geology as " That branch of geological 
inquiry which deals with the evolution of the existing contours of dry 
land," and this, it would appear, comes nearest to the meaning given 
to physiography by the Majority Report. 



GEOGRAPHICAL RECREATIONS 117 

But it is primarily the study of geography, and not geology, that the 
Conference is considering, and, if a new term is needed, it would seem 
that physiographic geography would be indicated. The existence of 
the well-known term physical geography, in my opinion, renders the 
coining of the new word inadvisable. 

Whatever the term employed, whether physiography or 
physiographic geography, it is evident that " an advanced 
and modernized phase" of physical geography offers an 
extended field for study, and that it will suggest many and 
various recreations which will prove highly profitable to 
teacher and pupils. 



CHAPTER V 

GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 

A Defect in American Education. — It is a crowning glory 
of the American people that vast sums are annually ex- 
pended in every State and Territory of the Union to educate 
the minds of the children, and to prepare the rising genera- 
tion for success in the various employments of life and for 
happiness in the hoine. It is a conspicuous defect of our 
educational system that we have taken so little thought 
for the physical development of the pupil, thus in a great 
measure undoing that upon which we have lavished so much 
expense and care. The young man or woman who is sent 
into the world with a cultivated mind — perhaps with a 
brilliant intellect — but with an undeveloped or debilitated 
body which will always hamper the free exercise of the 
mental powers, has fallen far short of the opportunity which 
an enlightened education should offer. 

Generally it has been assumed that the pupil acquires 
enough incidental exercise in the course of a day to give 
sufficient bodily development ; but there are few occupations 
and few amusements which exercise all the muscles ade- 
quately, and children, as a rule, especially the children of 
cities, have neither time nor opportunity for enlightened 
physical training outside the school. They have often ex- 
pensive and elegant schoolhouses, but very limited play- 
grounds. It is an encouraging fact that many of the newer 
school buildings in our cities have commodious and well- 
appointed gymnasiums, under the charge of regular instruc- 

118 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 119 

tors in physical culture, who conduct daily or semi-weekly 
physical exercises by classes, and superintend the gymnas- 
tics of individual pupils. 

In village and country schools the gymnasium is rarely 
found, though sometimes a vacant room in a school building 
is set apart for physical exercises, and is furnished with 
simple appliances suitable to the purpose. Perhaps it is 
not too optimistic for us to hope that, in the future, even 
the smaller schools of country districts will be generally 
supplied with a suitable room for physical training — either 
an apartment in the main school building or a building of 
simple construction upon the playground, with a considerable 
equipment of appliances for gymnastic training. 

A Duty of the Teacher. — An intelligent care for the physi- 
cal development of the pupils is a duty which the teacher 
cannot shirk. Even though, under the terms of his con- 
tract, he be not required to give any attention to the matter 
of calisthenics or gymnastics, and though he find neither 
a very suitable place in the school building or upon the 
grounds, nor any of the usual adjuncts of a hall for physical 
exercises, he cannot wholly escape the responsibility of 
giving some direction to the bodily activities of the pupils 
under his charge. Generally, by a little persuasion or effort, 
he can exert an influence favorable to the recognition of 
the pupils' physical needs, and can secure at least the 
beginnings of a simple gymnasium. 

Rooms for Gymnastic Exercises. — A hall for physical ex- 
ercises is esj)ecially desirable in the seasons of inclement 
weather, when pupils are compelled to remain indoors, and 
are apt to become wearied and stupefied by long confine- 
ment. Where no separate room for the purpose can be 
procured, and where the pupils are compelled to remain in 
the schoolroom during the periods of recess, the least the 
teacher can do is to provide orderly, interesting, and in- 
vigorating exercises within the schoolroom. Pupils should 
have an abundance of fresh air in the periods of exercises. 



120 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

The "windows and doors may be thrown open for a few 
moments, and the prisoners of a rainy day may derive from 
a hearty and well-managed physical exercise within the 
schoolroom almost the same pleasure which they would 
feel in the sports of the open air if the conditions were 
different. 

Courses of physical training will vary in different schools, 
according to the circumstances. In many schools they form 
a part of the regular and systematic training of the pupils. 
In others, they are brought into use only upon special occa- 
sions, as on rainy days. In all schools, however, they should 
have a place, and every teacher should make the most of 
the opportunities presented in his school. 

Gymnastic Training. — Gymnastic training should be sys- 
tematic exercise, taken with a view to the regular and proper 
development of the various parts of the body. The tendency 
of most of the occupations of men is to develop only a part 
of the body, and to place it in a set and often unnatural 
position. The movements of a man who labors continually 
and without relaxation upon a farm are apt to become slow 
and awkward ; for the work tends to develop the muscles of 
the back at the expense of those of the chest, and the body 
soon ceases to be erect. This tendency may be overcome 
by the more improved methods of modern farming, and by 
a proper variation of the work with suitable recreations. 

Even the sports of children are not calculated to develop 
all the muscles of the body. In the exciting game of base- 
ball there is more time spent in standing idle than in exer- 
cise ; and when the exercise does come, it is short, sharp, and 
violent. Flying kites and playing marbles do not develop 
the muscles. Jumping, pole vaulting, and running are 
useful as forms of exercise, but they often lose the greater 
part of their value because the body is not gradually trained 
to them. 

The games of children, however exciting their character 
or continuous the exercise which they supply, cannot take 



GYMNASTIC BECBEATIONS 121 

the place of gymnastic, muscle-making work. They are 
devised for amusements as well as for exercises. They are 
played generally without any particular supervision, and 
the idea of muscular development by means of them is a 
secondary one. The proper time for instruction in simple 
gymnastics is in childhood, and the convenient and proper 
place for it is the school. Discipline of the muscles is 
necessary. It should be daily, though from fifteen to thirty 
minutes each day will be sufficient. Any teacher can direct 
the exercises and see that they are properly and regularly 
performed. If access to a gymnasium can be had, so much 
the better ; if not, the work can progress very well without 
one. The appliances needed are few and simple. For six 
months of simple, bodily exercises, without apparatus, wands 
or dumb-bells may be used. The latter are so cheap that 
each child can provide his own, or the school may be di- 
vided into four or five classes, and enough dumb-bells can 
be purchased to supply a class at a cost of two or three 
dollars. In case a room in the school building can be set 
apart for a gymnasium, an ordinary carpenter can easily 
provide all the necessary adjuncts. 

The Purpose of School Gymnastics. — The object of the 
exercises is to produce healthy pupils, not trained gymnasts. 
This fact should not be lost sight of for a moment in gym- 
nastic work in the schools. As far as possible, the teacher 
should vary the exercises to suit the needs of all the pupils. 
The bodily development of the children will be found to 
vary widely, and the weaker muscles should be strengthened 
and built up in each particular case, until a fair average of 
physical excellence is reached. The teacher should study 
the functions of the different muscles and of the vital 
organs — how they may be trained, and what exercises are 
most appropriate for this purpose. 

The Teacher's Preparation for the Work. — Some knowl- 
edge of physical education should constitute a part of the 
preparation of every teacher for his profession. A special 



122 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

training for the work, under a competent instructor, may 
be made the employment of a single summer vacation. 
Various normal schools offer courses designed especially for 
teachers having this object in view, and combine theory 
and practice in physical training. There are, moreover, a 
number of valuable books upon the subject, which the 
teacher will find available for self-instruction. 1 

Results of Physical Training. — Strength, grace, beauty 
of person, and self-control are among the results that follow 
from a systematic course of physical training. The awk- 
ward feeling of childhood, the discomfort caused by rapid 
growth, the hands and feet that are always so much in evi- 
dence and so much in the way, the lack of reserve force, 
caused by unequal bodily growth or constant application to 
study, are gradually overcome ; and ease of manner, bodily 
dignity, and quiet self-possession follow. 

The first requirement of physical exercises for pupils is 
that they should be interesting, simple, and safe. The 
effect which each particular form of exercise has upon a 
different set of muscles should be explained, in order that 
the children may know the effect of each, and may be encour- 
aged to practice for a few moments each day outside the 
schoolroom. A part of the exercises may be performed by 
the entire school. As for other parts, it is better to sepa- 
rate the boys and girls, for various reasons. The following 
are some simple suggestive exercises for schools which are 
not supplied with any of the gymnasium equipments. 

Simple Exercises without Apparatus. — 1. Correct Position. — 
The first thing to be taught is the correct standing position. 
The body should be perfectly erect, the heels on the same 

1 Among the most helpful of these are A System of Physical Education 
by Archibald Maclaren, published by Clarendon Bros. (Oxford, England) ; 
IIoiu to get Stro?ig by William Blackie, published by Harper Bros. ; Physi- 
cal Education by R. Anna Morris, published by the American Book Com- 
pany; and School Gymnastics by Dr. James H. Smart, also published 
by the American Book Company. Any of these books might be made the 
basis of a series of exercises to last through the school year. 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 123 

line, the toes turned outward at an angle of about 60 
degrees. The knees should be straight, but without stiff- 
ness ; the body inclined slightly forward on the • hips ; the 
shoulders square and sloping equally, the arms hanging 
naturally at the sides, with the elbows close to the body. 
The head should be held erect, with the chin slightly drawn 
in. This position will cause the chest to be slightly thrown 
out, and the lower part of the trunk to be repressed. The 
teacher should point out the specific defects in the positions 
of the different children, showing how they occur and how 
they may be remedied. The position may be assumed by 
the command " position " or " attention." After critically 
reviewing the line of pupils and calling attention to defects 
in the position of individuals, the instructor may give the 
command " rest." At this command the pupil should move 
the right foot directly backward about three inches, resting 
the weight of the body on the right leg and crossing the 
hands in front of the center of the body. 

The commands " position " and " rest " should be given 
alternately, until the pupils have no difficulty in assuming 
the desired position of the body at either command. 

2. Breathing Exercise. — Let the pupils, while standing 
in " position," draw a long breath, at the same time throw- 
ing the shoulders farther back and throwing the chest for- 
ward, so as to fill every part of the lungs with air. Then 
let them force the air out slowly from the lungs, assisting 
the movement by slightly contracting the muscles of the 
shoulders. 

The teacher should perform these exercises simultane- 
ously with the pupils, all keeping proper time. The com- 
mands "one" and "two" may be given to indicate the 
inhalation and exhalation. This exercise should be repeated 
ten times at least, and then followed by a short rest. 

3. Bending the Head. — After " position," let the pupils 
place their hands upon the hips at the command "hands 
on hips." Then the neck should be bent first forward, then 



124 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

to the right, then to the left, and then backwards, each sepa- 
rate movement ending by bringing the head back to its 
original position. The command may be given thus : " Bend 
the head forward — one, two ; back — one, two ; to the right 
— one, two ; to the left — one, two." The head being bent 
in an indicated direction at the command " one," recovers 
its original position at the command "two." The pupil 
should wait for a command before executing any exercise, 
and should keep the head in the position assumed until the 
command "two." 

By insisting strictly that these commands be obeyed when 
given, and not until they are given, the teacher will afford 
a desirable discipline in the concentration of the pupils' 
attention upon the matter in hand. The entire series of 
these movements should be repeated three or four times 
before resting. 

4. Exercises of the Trunk. — After the pupils are in posi- 
tion, their hands on their hips, the preceding exercise may 
be varied by the command " Bend the trunk forward — one 
two," etc. At the command " one," the pupil is to bend for- 
ward at the hips as far as possible ; at the command " two," 
he is to resume the original position. The trunk then 
should be bent forward and to the right and left by the 
same commands, the pupil being careful to keep the knees 
straight, the heels and full feet on the floor. 

This exercise may be unified by bending the trunk for- 
ward, to the right, backward, and to the left in one contin- 
uous motion. This should not be attempted, however, until 
the pupils can execute the separate movements perfectly. 

5. Movements of the Legs. — (a) With the hands upon 
the hips at the command "Rise on toes — one," the pupil 
raises the body slowly upon the toes, keeping it otherwise 
in position as nearly as possible. At the command " two," 
he resumes the first position. 

This exercise should be repeated four or five times at first ; 
and after the pupils become accustomed to it, ten or more 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 125 

times. No exercise should be repeated so frequently as to 
produce physical exhaustion. 

(b) With the hands on the hips, at the command " Bend 
the knees — one," the pupil lowers the body four or five 
inches by bending the knees, having the feet squarely upon 
the floor, the heels together. At the command "two," he 
resumes the first position*. 

This exercise should be repeated four or five times to 
begin with, and more frequently later on. 

(c) Standing in position, with the hands upon the hips, 
at the command " Extend the right leg forward — one," the 
pupil throws the weight of the body upon the left leg, ex- 
tends the right leg forward about twelve inches, keeping the 
knees stiff and the toes bent downward. At the command 
"two," he replaces the right foot by the side of the left. 
The leg may be extended backward by a similar command, 
and the two exercises may . be combined by commanding 
" Eight foot forward and back — one, two, three," the 
original position being assumed with the count three. 
Eegular commands should be given for the same, exercises 
for the left leg. 

(d) An excellent exercise for more advanced pupils is to 
stoop down on one foot, while the other is extended in the 
position described above. Many persons cannot do this at 
all, but by care and persistent effort it may be done finally 
by almost any pupil. It is especially useful in developing 
the muscles of the thigh. Either foot is to be extended as 
in the foregoing exercise, and turned upward as far as pos- 
sible. The preparatory exercise may be repeated ten or 
more times. Then, with the hands placed on the hips and 
the feet six or eight inches apart, the body is lowered ver- 
tically six inches, and the erect position is resumed. This 
exercise should be practiced until the body can be lowered 
nearly to the floor. 

(e) In a standing position, with the hands upon the hips, 
let the pupil leap a few inches into the air and come down 



126 SCHOOL RECUSATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

upon the toes with the feet about eighteen inches apart. 
The original position is to be resumed by a similar leap. 

(/) Have the pupil rise upon the toes and bend the knees 
slightly at the same time ; then resume the original position, 
again bending the knees in so doing. 

(g) While in the position of " attention," the pupils are 
to raise the arms above the head, the palms of the hands to 
the front, the thumbs interlocked, the arms straight and 
stiffened at the elbow. They should bend forward now, 
keeping the feet in place and the hands straight, and touch 
the floor with the finger tips, if possible. This exercise may 
be performed by the following commands : " One " (bend 
over), "two" (resume erect position). 

The exercise may be repeated four or five times before a 
rest is given. After a time, almost the entire hand may be 
placed upon the floor. Care should be taken that the knees 
be not bent ; the bending of the body should be at the hips. 

6. Arm and Shoulder Exercises. — (a) The pupil is to 
extend the arms in front of the center of the body, the 
palms of the hands joined and as high as the shoulders. 
He is then to throw the arms back forcibly, and to incline 
them slightly downward. The hands are to be joined at 
the command "one," and to be thrown back at the com- 
mand " two." By repeating the counts " one, two," the 
exercise may be continued, ceasing at "three," when the 
position of " attention " is resumed. 

(6) The pupil is to raise the arms, the palms of the hands 
upward, until they are in a line with the shoulders. He is 
then to describe a similar circle with the arms back of the 
shoulders at the count " one." This is to be repeated eight 
or ten times, ceasing with the count " two." 

(c) The arms are to be raised so that the palms of the 
hands touch above the head, the arms being kept straight 
and the body erect. The arms are to be lowered now, per- 
fectly straight to the sides, keeping them back of the shoul- 
ders. This exercise is to be repeated slowly four or five times. 



GYMNASTIC RECBEATIONS 127 

(d) With the arms extended horizontally, palms of the 
hands upward and as high as the shoulders, the hands are 
to be opened and shut forcibly as if squeezing a rubber ball. 
This may be repeated twenty-five times. It is one of the 
very best methods of strengthening the grip. 

(e) The pupils are to be formed around the sides of the 
room and about two feet from the wall, which they are to 
face. They now place their hands upon the wall, the body 
moving slowly forward until the chest touches the wall, the 
head being thrown back and the elbows kept close to the 
body. This movement may be repeated five or six times. 

(/) When the desks are not more than two or three feet 
apart, the pupils standing by them may place their hands 
upon them, stepping back three feet. The pupils should 
lower their bodies between the arms until their chests are 
level with the desks, and then rise again by the arms. The 
exercise may be repeated two or three times. 

7. Exercises with the Dumb-bells. — The best dumb-bells 
for ordinary use are those made of wood, weighing from 
one to two pounds. In many cases half-pound bells are 
better than the heavier ones. As the pupils increase in 
strength and age, the heavier bells may be used. 

The advantages of dumb-bells are many. They may be 
suited exactly to the strength and development of the child, 
they exercise both sides of the body at once and equally, 
and they furnish work for nearly all the muscles. They 
are very cheap, a good pair of one-pound wooden dumb-bells 
not costing generally more than seven cents. Extended 
manuals of dumb-bell exercises can be procured easily. 
The following simple directions for such exercises may 
be easily extended by the teacher. The pupils will need 
little oral instruction in the use of dumb-bells, since such 
use may be acquired by following the teacher, who illus- 
trates each movement by his own use of the dumb-bells. 

(a) Take a dumb-bell in each hand, the hand being turned 
outwards and the finger nails being uppermost. Bend the 



128 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

forearm, slowly raising it until the dumb-bells touch, the 
shoulder. Now extend the entire arms horizontally from 
the shoulders. 

(b) When the dumb-bells rest upon the shoulder, raise 
and extend the arms full length above the head. 

(c) Let the arms hang naturally at the sides. Raise them 
by bending at the elbows until the dumb-bells are immedi- 
ately under the armpits. 

These three exercises may be combined, starting with the 
bells on the shoulder, by the commands, "Up, one, two; 
out, one, two ; down, one, two." Eepeat each movement 
three or four times. 

(d) Hold the bells forward against the chest, the finger 
nails turned inward. Strike out quickly and strongly from 
the shoulder, first with one hand and then with the other, 
or with both hands at once, always completing one motion 
before the second is begun. In all movements exact time 
should be kept by the entire class. 

(e) With the bell in the right hand, describe a circle with 
the right arm, throwing the arm as far back as possible. 
Do the same with the left arm, and separately. Eepeat, 
with both arms at once. 

(/) Hold the bells in the hands, the arms extended above 
the head, the feet about eighteen or twenty-five inches apart. 
At the command "down," bend over at the hips until the 
bells come between the feet. At the command " up," resume 
the first position. Eepeat the commands four or five times, 
and see that the movements are executed together, and in 
time. 

The Bar Bell and its Use. — An excellent form of dumb- 
bell is the bar bell, which consists of a light, strong bar of 
wood about three feet long, with iron knobs or weights at 
each end. The following are a few of the many uses of 
this instrument : 

(a) The bar bell is placed on the floor directly in front 
of the pupil, who grasps it with both hands at points about 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 129 

three inches from the weights, and raises it to a level with 
his chest, then lowers it slowly to its position on the floor. 

(6) Baising it again against the chest, the pupil extends 
the arm slowly forward until the bar is directly oyer his 
head, then lowers it behind his shoulders and raises it again 
over his head, and finally lowers it slowly to the floor. 

(c) The pupil grasps the bar bell with both hands near 
the center of the bar, and holds it horizontally with arms 
outstretched in front at right angles to the body. He then 
swings it to a perpendicular position, and returns it to its 
horizontal position; reversing the movement, he swings it 
again to a perpendicular position and again returns it to 
the horizontal. Subsequently, the bar may be swung in an 
even, steady motion by each hand separately. 

Walking, Running, and Jumping. — In walking, two things 
are to be considered — position and gait. The body should 
be inclined slightly to the front. In walking we should 
spring lightly from the foot in the rear, transferring the 
weight of the body to the other foot. When the foot is 
advanced the length of a step, we should place it lightly on 
the ground — the heels first, the toes last ; and as the toes 
strike the ground, we should raise the heel of the other foot, 
now relieved from the weight of the body. 

The position in walking is independent of speed or length 
of step. The action at a rapid gait is more intense. The 
head should be thrown back, the chest expanded, and the 
breath should be full, easy, and regular. After correct 
position and motion in walking have been acquired, the 
distance and speed may be increased. In taking a long 
walk the speed should be moderate at the outset, but may 
be increased later. Walking parties in fine weather are 
excellent social and physical diversions. 

The action and position in running are different from 
those in walking. Both feet are off the ground for a very 
short time, and each step is assisted by the momentum of 
the one before it. The position of the body is the same, 

SCH. REC. & AMUS. 9 



130 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

except that the toe strikes the ground first. The forearm 
should be horizontal and close to the body, the hands closed 
and the nails forward, the arms moving slightly with the 
motion of the body. Rapidity of step is essential in run- 
ning short distances ; length of stride in long distances ; and 
endurance is necessary for both. The step should not be 
faster than 160 to the minute at the outset ; and particular 
attention should be given to the breathing, which should 
always be through the nose. For a distance of half a mile, 
the steps at the outset should not be more than 150 to the 
minute. The toes should strike the ground first, and all 
movements of the body should be easy, the breathing 
being natural. When the half mile has been covered 
without fatigue, it may be increased to a mile. The 
rapidity of steps may be slowly increased then; but for 
long distances, as three or four miles, 160 steps to the 
minute will be found most satisfactory. 

For all forms of jumping the ground should be soft. No 
better place than an area covered with soft, thick turf can 
be found, though the feet will often slip, even upon this. 
The ground may be prepared by digging it up to a depth of 
six or eight inches and leveling it carefully. 

The simplest jump is made from a slanting position. 
The hands are raised above the head and then brought down 
fully extended. At the same time the knees are bent until 
they project over the toes. This movement should be 
repeated two or three times, and at the fiual depression 
there is a spring from the feet. By practicing the prelimi- 
nary movements, all the paxts of the body come to work in 
harmony, and the equilibrium is preserved in any posi- 
tion. In high jumps, the legs should be bent and brought 
as close to the body as possible at the moment of 
clearing the barrier. The barrier may be made by taking 
two pieces of wood, about two inches square and ten feet 
long, and fastening one end of each to a broad board, so 
that the poles will not be overturned easily. Holes should 



GYMNASTIC BECBEATIONS 131 

be bored in the poles at about the height of three feet, and 
an inch apart. In these holes, long iron pins are to be 
placed, and a cord hung over them is kept taut by weights 
fastened to the ends. 

The Gymnasium and its Apparatus. — What has been said 
previously in this chapter has referred to the general build- 
ing up of the body, the development of the muscles, and to 
the acquirement of grace of motion and beauty of form. 
After a time the older pupils, especially the boys, will 
require a wider field for the exercise of these qualities 
which they have attained ; they will desire to harden the 
muscles and to engage in more vigorous exercises. In other 
words, they will be ready for the gymnasium. 

A great deal more of care and caution will be necessary 
at first in order to make the gymnasium work a success. If 
not rightly used, a gymnasium may be made a source of far 
more harm than good; and no pupil should be permitted 
to attempt advance work upon any of the appliances or 
machines, until he has shown himself to be expert in the 
simpler and more elementary exercises. Maclaren says : 
" The natural and suitable exercise strengthens ; the exces- 
sive or undue exercise weakens and injures. I repeat, falls 
and broken bones are not the evils to be dreaded from these 
hazardous exercises. Falls can be seen, and broken bones 
can be mended. The thing to be feared is the strain from 
sudden, unregulated, or over-stimulated effort, an evil which 
at the time of its actual occurrence may never be known, or 
if known, concealed (for the young have a dread of such 
incapacitating injuries), but which, whether concealed or 
revealed, understood or misapprehended, felt late or soon, 
will surely appear, it may be to mar the hope and the 
happiness and the usefulness of all the life to come." 

A Simple Gymnasium. — Supposing that the teacher has 
at his disposal a suitable room for gymnasium purposes, 
either within the school building or in a structure erected 
for the purpose upon the school grounds, he will find that 



132 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

the cost of the necessary appliances need not be very con- 
siderable. All the furnishings mentioned below may be 
made easily by any one having access to a carpenter's bench 
and a set of tools — all with the exception of the iron rings, 
which any blacksmith can make. Following here are a 
number of exercises suitable for such a room, with sug- 
gestions to the teacher in charge : 

The Horizontal, or Vaulting Bar. — This should be about 
eight feet long, and of a size to be grasped firmly by the 
hand. It should be made of well-seasoned hickory or ash. 
A very excellent form of bar is now made with a steel core, 
and this is sometimes covered with paper pulp instead of 
wood. The bar should be fixed between two firm supports, 
in such a way that it may be raised or lowered at will. It 
should be low enough to be grasped by the hands with arms 
extended. 

Vaulting the Bar in Three Movements. — 1. Eaise the 
hands and grasp the bar. 

2. Eaise the body to the full extension of the arms. 

3. Place the right leg extended along the bar. Bring 
the left leg up to the right, clear the bar, and, letting go 
the hold with the hands, leap to the ground, facing the bar. 
In all similar exercises, be sure that the toes strike the 
ground first ; in crossing the bar, the body should be par- 
allel to it. 

Vaulting in Two Movements. — 1. (The same as in the 
previous exercise.) 

2. Swing the legs under the bar. On the return swing 
throw both legs over the bar and come to the ground as 
before. 

Vaulting in One Movement. — Grasp the bar, and, using 
hands and feet at the same time, throw the feet over the 
bar, coming to the ground in the position before described. 

The exercise may be varied to vault with one hand only, 
or to turn about the bar, keeping the body perpendicular to 
it, or to vault by the use of the hands alone. 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 133 

Grasp the bar with both hands, as in the first exercise, 
except that the hands may be closer together; now raise 
the body slowly until the chin reaches the level of the bar, 
lower the body slowly ; repeat the exercise four or five 
times. The exercise may then be varied by drawing the 
body up, with the feet extended horizontally. It should be 
continued until the pupil can raise himself twelve or fifteen 
times. 

Raise the body until the chin is above the bar, as in the 
previous exercise. Then place the right forearm on the 
bar, following it with the left, so that half of the trunk is 
above the bar, the weight of the body being supported upon 
the forearms. Extend the arms and raise the body to the 
second position of the vault. 

To Encircle the Bar. — Grasp the bar with the hands, the 
arms extended. Bring the feet up until they nearly touch 
the bar. Now, by bending the arms, pass the feet and body 
over the bar. The body should not touch the bar, but be 
near it during the exercise. 

These exercises may be varied and continued indefinitely. 

The Ladder. — This should be from sixteen to twenty 
inches wide; the sides about two by four inches, and 
rounded, so that they may be easily grasped by the hand. 
A convenient form is about twelve to eighteen feet long, 
fastened to supports so that it may be used in a horizontal 
position or inclined ; if inclined, the lower end should be 
about seven feet from the floor, the upper end not more 
than twelve. A varied and useful set of exercises may 
be performed upon it. 

The Swing. — Grasp alternate rounds of the ladder, the 
feet together, the toes pointing downwards ; swing the lower 
part of the body slightly in the direction that you wish to 
go, and on the return swing let go of one of the rounds and 
grasp the alternate round ahead. Repeat the operation, 
traversing the whole length of the ladder. Standing under 
the ladder, grasp the sides with the hands, the feet ex- 



134 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

tended, toes pointing downward, the head thrown back, and 
the chest out. Advance the right hand about the distance 
between the rounds, follow with the left, going the whole 
extent of the ladder. 

Placing both hands on one side of the ladder, raise the 
body until the chin is the same height as the side of the 
ladder ; advance the right hand as in the previous exer- 
cise, about the space between the rounds, the left hand 
following. These exercises may then be performed, keeping 
the legs parallel to the floor instead of extended. 

The ladder may then be inclined and ascended backwards 
and forwards, the right hand leading and the left following ; 
or by both hands at once, by making a slight spring, letting 
go of one round and grasping the one ahead. These exer- 
cises may be varied and continued in many different ways, 
always passing, however, from the simpler forms to the 
more complex. 

The Rings. — Procure three or four pairs of iron rings, 
about five or six inches in diameter and made of iron three 
fourths of an inch thick. Cover them with soft leather, 
suspend them about five and a half feet from the floor and 
about twenty inches to two feet apart. 

Raise the hands and grasp the rings, lowering the body 
until the arms are fully extended. Raise the legs slowly, 
keeping them stiff, with the toes to the front, lift the feet 
and pass them above the head, turning over in the rings and 
resuming the first position. 

Grasp the rings as in the previous exercise; raise the 
body until the shoulders are as high as the hands. Lift 
the feet, keeping them together until they are parallel to 
the floor. Extend the right to its full length, and return it 
to the side. Repeat with the left. 

From the first position of the previous exercise, raise the 
right forearm, pressing strongly upon a ring with the right 
hand, and raising the body above the ring. Do the same 
with the left hand. Now, keeping the arms rigid, bend for- 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 135 

ward in the rings, turn over to the position under the rings, 
or turn the body forward, keeping the arms close to the 
sides, the elbows bent, until the body is perpendicular to 
the floor. 

These rings maybe attached to hooks so that their position 
can be changed. They may be placed about three to five 
feet apart, forming swinging or traveling rings, or a set of 
each may be obtained. 

Grasp the first of these rings and swing the body back- 
ward and forward until the second is caught, then swing 
the feet once or twice to keep the momentum, and let go of 
one of the rings, grasping the next one with the hand thus 
freed. 

The Horse. — One of the most useful appliances in the 
gymnasium, both for- the number and variety of the exer- 
cises that may be performed upon it, is the horse. One may 
be made by taking a poplar or cottonwood log about eighteen 
inches in diameter, and leaving one side flat to insert the 
legs. Round off carefully all of the other part of the log. 
Pad it (old carpet will answer), and cover with leather. 
Bore holes in the flat side and insert stout legs. These 
should be fastened together by cross pieces, to prevent their 
springing. The horse should be about four feet high. 

Stand facing the horse ; place the hands on the back, 
fingers extended and palms down. 

1. Make a slight spring, and raise the body, supported 
by the hands, until the arms are extended, the legs together. 

2. Throw the right leg over the horse, the hands resting 
on the thighs. 

Combine these exercises into one by facing the croup of 
the horse, the left hand on the saddle. Spring from the 
floor, supporting the weight of the body on the left hand; 
turn the body to the left, throw the right leg over the 
horse, and take the seated position in the saddle. 

Vaulting with the Horse. — 1. Take a run of twenty or 
thirty feet, quickening the pace as the horse is approached. 



136 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Place both hands on the back of the horse and swing to the 
saddle resting upon the horse. 

2. Spring from the back of the horse, lighting on the feet. 

Vary the exercises by leaping upon the horse with the 
feet ; stand erect, and leap from the horse. 

With the same running start as before place the hands 
upon the back of the horse, bring the thighs and calves 
of the legs close together and pass them between the hands. 

Take a position twenty or thirty feet from the croup of 
the horse. Advance, running as before ; place the hands on 
the croup, and vault over the croup into the saddle. On 
taking a longer run leap forward, the hands extended, strik- 
ing the horse on the right and left, vault entirely over it 
lengthwise, no part of the body except the hands touching 
the horse. In all of the exercises in vaulting, the instructor 
and attendant should stand ready to catch any one who may 
fall. 

A gymnasium should have four or five heavy mattresses, 
to be placed near the different pieces of apparatus where 
there is a possible danger from falls. 

The Parallel Bars. — There are two forms of this appara- 
tus, the most useful machine in the gymnasium, that may 
be easily made. 

Mortise in the floor four posts, about three feet six inches 
high, about twenty inches apart one way, and six feet the 
other. Fasten the uprights securely to the floor by braces ; 
upon the top of the supports mortise bars about ten feet 
long, four inches wide, and two inches thick. Round the 
upper surface of these bars to fit the hand. 

The other form is made by taking two horizontal bars, 
fastening them to parallel supports about thirty inches 
apart. The bars should be so arranged as to be raised and 
lowered at will. 

Stand at one end of and between the bars, raise the 
hands and place them upon the bars, thumbs inside, fingers 
extended and pointing down. 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 137 

Raise the body until the arms are fully extended, the 
head erect, chest thrown out, legs together, the toes pointing 
to the ground. Advance the right hand about six inches 
along the bar, follow with the left. Repeat until the length 
of the bar is traversed. 

Go through the same exercise, facing the other way. 

Assume the same position on the bar as before, except 
that the legs are bent backward at the knee until they are 
parallel to the floor. Then make a slight spring, moving 
forward about six inches with both hands at once, until the 
bar is traversed. 

Perform the same exercise, facing the opposite way. 

Take the position above and between the bars, the arms 
extended. Lower the body by bending the arms at the 
elbow ; raise it slowly by extending the arms. Repeat two 
or three times. 

From the first position of the previous exercise, raise the 
legs to the front, pass them to the right, and clear the bar. 

From the first position swing the feet backwards and 
forwards between the bars. At the second or third swing, 
throw the feet over the bar, and come to the ground. This 
may be done on either the backward or the forward swing. 

Perform the same exercise, but, after the feet have cleared 
the bars, turn the body completely around, facing the oppo- 
site direction. 

Being above and between the bars, the arms extended and 
legs together, swing the lower part of the body two or three 
times, until the legs rise above the bar at both backward 
and forward swings. At the completion of the backward 
swing, lower the body by bending the elbows ; raise it again 
at the completion of the forward exercise. This exercise 
should not be attempted until the simpler exercises are 
mastered. 

A great variety of combinations of exercises may be 
formed from those given above, and any gymnasium manual 
will furnish a large number. 



188 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Other Gymnasium Apparatus. — Among the other pieces of 
apparatus that are easily prepared are the climbing pole and 
rope, the vertical parallels, the knotted rope, the rowing 
machine, and various other lifting devices. As a source of 
amusement as well as exercise, the striking bag has many 
advantages. It should be about eighteen inches in diameter, 
of canvas or leather, and filled with hair, excelsior, or saw- 
dust. For ordinary use, hair is perhaps the best filling. 
Suspend by a rope from the ceiling. In hitting it, strike 
squarely before the shoulder, the force of the blows increas- 
ing gradually. 

Care in Gymnastic Exercises. — The successful manage- 
ment of classes in the gymnasium is a matter that requires 
much study and care. In the first place, there must not be 
too much reserve or stiffness; for if children are to take 
pleasure in the exercises and be benefited by them, these 
must be natural and interesting. The lack of discipline is 
as dangerous as too much of it. It means a waste of time 
and energy, and much useless disorder. Unless the time at 
command be very short, I should divide it into two periods, 
leaving about five or ten minutes at the end for exercises at 
will. In general exercises, five minutes will be sufficient 
between rests unless the pupils are used to the work. Four 
or five different exercises should be done during the five 
minutes, selecting those that will exercise different parts of 
the body. Five minutes of exercise with the dumb-bells, 
and five without the bells, with a rest of one to two minutes 
between, is a good arrangement. 

General Observations. — Be sure that all of the children 
are in a correct position, that all of them go through the 
exercises correctly and in time. Give the command to 
begin and close the different exercises that are done by 
counts, the pupils counting to themselves or aloud. The 
latter plan is the better until all have the proper cadence. 
Walk about through the class, noting defects in position or 
in the performance of the various exercises, correcting those 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 139 

who are out of time, and frequently counting aloud to keep 
up the cadence. 

There are few prettier sights than a class of fifty or sixty 
pupils engaged in a somewhat complicated dumb-bell drill ; 
the arms moving together and in time, the bodies in correct 
position, the faces bright with the gleam of health and 
interest. 

Never allow slovenly work in any of the exercises. 
Correct and correct again, until the performance is exactly 
as it should be. A few movements should be thoroughly 
explained and the pupils drilled upon them until they are 
perfect. At the beginning of each day's lessons, review the 
exercises of the previous days and add one or two new 
movements until the set or series is mastered. The exer- 
cises must be full of snap, fire, and action. Avoid all list- 
lessness and carelessness, as they will surely destroy the 
interest in the work. ' 

After ten minutes of these general exercises, divide the 
pupils into squads of not more than ten, each squad under 
a leader who is selected for his quickness to learn and 
ability to perform the various exercises, as well as for the 
power of keeping order. The exercises for a given day, 
two or three in number for the different machines, should 
be selected beforehand, and the squad leaders should be 
familiar with them. 

It is best to have two or more sets of rings and two hori- 
zontal bars. The members of squads can follow each other 
rapidly on the horse, the pair of rings, or the ladders. The 
squads at the rings and the horizontal bar should not be 
more than half as large as those at the horse, ladder, and 
parallel bars. Have the leaders stand near the machines, 
ready to catch any one who may fall, or assist and direct any 
one who does not understand the exercise. At a given 
signal from the instructor (a bicycle whistle is a good thing 
for signals) let the squad leaders perform the given exercise 
upon their respective machines, followed in rapid succession 



140 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



by the members of the squads, repeating an exercise when 
necessary to acquire the full meaning and effect of it. As 
soon as the members of the different squads have performed 
the exercises (at the sound of the whistle), have the squads 
change from one piece of apparatus to another, in regular 
order, until each member of each squad has performed one 
or two exercises upon the different machines. It is a good 
plan to take the squad leaders alone for a few minutes, 
before the lesson, so that they may become familiar with 
the exercises, the positions of the body, and the order in 
which the squads are to run. When not exercising, the 
members or the squads are to stand quietly in line, in cor- 
rect position, and give their attention to the exercise being 
done by the members of their own squad. 

Games for the Gymnasium. — Some very interesting games 
can be played in the gymnasium. In bad weather they 

may be made to take the 
place of outdoor sports. 
The rules for the games are 
necessary and should be care- 
fully observed, as they are 
made with an idea of avoid- 
ing and eliminating all dan- 
gerous features. 

Basket Ball. — This game 
may be played by from five 
to nine men, dispersed as in 
the figure, with an equal 
number of opponents. The 
object is to throw the ball 
into the opponents' basket. 
The positions are not fixed, 
but should be nearly as indi- 
Basket cated in the figure, to pre- 

vent bunching the team. The ball is tossed from one player 
to another towards the opponents' basket. The object 





Guard 




Forward 




Forward 




Center 




L. Center 




E. Center 


L. Back 


Goal Keeper 


E. Back 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 141 

of the players should be to place themselves in such a 
position that a decided advantage is gained every time the 
ball is passed. The ball is placed in play by the referees 
or umpire, by being thrown up in the middle of the 
field. The hands only are used to bat the ball or hold it. 
Kicking, tripping, buckmg, shouldering, and similar forms 
of interference are not allowed. The ball must not be 
touched or hit with the fists ; the ball may be taken away 
from a player provided only the ball is handled. 

The games are generally played in halves of twenty 
minutes each, and points won decide the game. A goal 
counts three points ; a foul, one for the opponents. 

For the purpose of practice and amusement, as many 
players may be chosen on each side as the space at hand 
will accommodate. They are disposed at the discretion of 
the captain, but according to the rules given above. The 
ball should be a small-sized round football. 1 

Tag. — Another game is hang tag. The one designated 
as tag endeavors to touch one of the other boys. If too 
closely pursued, they may hang upon any of their pieces 
of apparatus at hand. They should be allowed to touch 
the apparatus with the hands only. After a good deal of 
running the tag may station himself near a boy and tire 
him out. Then the others should try to attract his attention. 
It very often happens that those boys who most need the 
exercise will station themselves near a convenient support 
and remain there. Stop such practices, if possible, so that 
everybody may have a share of the exercise and work. 
Separate the boys into pairs. Have them hop about on 
one foot, striking each other with the shoulders until one 
of them is forced to put both feet on the ground. 

In the same position have each boy try to put his toe 
under the other's foot, thus destroying his equilibrium, and 
forcing him to put his other foot on the floor. In these 

1 Complete rules for the game are published by the Triangle Publishing 
Company, Springfield, Massachusetts. 



142 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

exercises the hands should be held clasped behind the back. 
Arrange the boys in line, facing each other, and on oppo- 
site sides of the room ; have one boy midway between the two 
lines. Let the boys run from one line to the other, the boy 
in the center trying to catch those who are running. When 
any one is caught, he takes his place in the center. The fun 
is very exciting when the boys in the center are nearly 
equal in number, and otherwise pretty evenly matched. 




| | 1st Base 



3d Base Q 



Fielder 



Indoor Baseball. — The ball to be used in this game is 
of a compact substance, seventeen inches in circumference, 
and weight eight and one fourth ounces. The bat is two 
and three fourths feet long and one and one fourth inches 
in diameter at the largest part. The bases are one and 
one half feet square, are filled with sand and placed 
loosely upon the marked spot. The rules of the game 
are similar to baseball. 1 

1 The rules are published by the American Sports Pub. Co., New York. 



GYMNASTIC RECREATIONS 143 

Hang Ball. — This game may be played with a small-sized 
football. The players are dispersed as in a game of base- 
ball. The ball is hit by the batter hanging by his hands 
from a horizontal bar, and striking the ball with the bot- 
toms of the feet only ; or with any part of the feet pro- 
vided they are kept together, and the motion of the body 
is a straight swing under the bar. A foul is a ball that 
has been hit and strikes behind the line of the bar pro- 
longed. 

The other rules are the same as for baseball. 

General Observations. — Many other games will be sug- 
gested by the size and shape of the room, the apparatus in 
it, and the time and opportunities for playing. 

During the exercises, allow no laughing or talking. If 
these things are once permitted, they will soon become an 
intolerable annoyance. Keep the work moving, and moving 
briskly. After ten or fifteen minutes of sharp work, march 
the squads together, and break ranks, allowing five minutes 
for exercise at will. . 

The pupils should be allowed to perform any exercise 
not dangerous and overtaxing in its character, and a con- 
siderable allowance should be made for noise. In other 
words, let the pupils within reasonable bounds do as they 
please. 

If these exercises are kept up regularly, the time that is 
given to machine work may be gradually lengthened toward 
the end of the year as soon as different exercises are learned 
and the body becomes stronger. 

A system of measurements should be kept, for the satis- 
faction of the instructor, if for no other reason. This should 
include age, height, weight, forearm, upper arm, chest con- 
tracted, normal, and expanded, and waist, to which may be 
added the measurement of the thigh and calf. At the close 
of the term or year, take the measurement and note the 
increase. In many cases the results will be almost in- 
credible. 



144 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

By perseverance in snch a course of work, by showing 
where the danger lies in overdoing any part of it, how the 
inestimable benefits of health, grace, and beauty follow from 
a short period of daily exercise, by building up the body 
and making it a proper receptacle for the mind, not only 
will the class upon whom the work is exerted be benefited, 
but the results will descend with unceasing force and value 
from one generation to another in the form of healthy, well- 
proportioned children, approaching more and more nearly 
to the ideal of physical perfection. 



CHAPTER VI. 
DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 

Military Training for Pupils. 1 — There is something about 
all military evolutions that has a strong attraction for 
youths. Irksome as may be the discipline necessary to 
acquire the precision and unity of military movements, 
boys are usually willing to submit to it for the sake of the 
pleasure and exhilarating influence of the drill itself. In 
general, a body of boys will learn more readily and more 
accurately than a similar body of men. 

The value of military drill as a physical exercise is gen- 
erally conceded, and it possesses other advantages no less 
important. The habits of attention and mental concentra- 
tion, quickness of movement, and the spirit of implicit 
obedience which are inculcated are exceedingly valuable. 
So general is the recognition of the worth of military 
training, that the boys of the public schools in many cities 
have been organized into regular battalions, and in some 
cases armed and uniformed. At present it is proposed to 
adopt a similar organization in some of the larger cities of 
the West. 

The boys' brigades organized by many of the churches in 
the larger cities are examples of the power of continuous, 
systematic work of this character. More boys have become 

1 Boys are not alone in the benefits received from marches and evolu- 
tions in the open air, and in the exercise room. The modern physical 
training of girls includes much that hears a strong resemblance to the 
military drills of cadets. It will be easy for any teacher to adapt to the 
training of girls the exercises presented in this chapter. 

SCH. REC. & AMUS. — 10 145 



146 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

interested in the church by this means, and the church 
attendance has been much more regular and faithful. 
Eegular companies are formed, and in some cases supplied 
with uniforms. They are officered by the older boys or 
younger men of the church. They have regular drills and 
parades, and annual encampments. The time may come 
when the military organization shall be so perfected that 
these brigades will have a beneficial effect upon the militia 
of the various states — the city companies particularly. 

Essentials of Military Training. — Before entering upon 
the drill, there is one thing that the instructor must deter- 
mine always to require ; that is, absolute correctness in 
little things. There may seem to be no urgent necessity 
for the thumb of the right hand to be at just such a place, 
or for the fingers of the left hand to be in just such a posi- 
tion; but unity and uniformity are an absolute necessity, 
and they can be obtained in no other way. There are few 
more attractive sights than the drill of the manual of arms 
if it be well executed — and few more unsatisfactory if it 
be carelessly performed. The easy walk, the regular step, 
and the erect carriage of the West Point cadet are acquired 
by many an hour's work in the broiling sun, in a ramrod- 
like position. 

Size of Companies. — The term battalion is properly applied 
to two or more companies assembled together. Companies 
are formed and drilled separately, and the cadets should 
have a good knowledge of the general evolutions of the 
company before battalion drill is attempted. While a com- 
pany may be formed of any number of cadets, it is desirable 
that there be as many as twenty-four, or six sets of fours, 
exclusive of guides and sergeants, or file closers. There 
are three (sometimes four) sergeants and three commissioned 
officers to each company, the appointment and duties of 
which will be stated hereafter. 

Uniform. — In private schools it is desirable for many 
reasons to adopt a permanent uniform. The pupil attired 



DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 147 

in the uniform of a cadet, in which he has been trained, 
will find it a constant incentive to correct deportment, 
wherever he may be. The uniform places all the pupils 
upon a common basis in the matter of attire, and prevents 
a conspicuous distinction in dress between those of diverse 
financial circumstances. Uniforms need not be expensive. 
Generally they are found to be both economical and becom- 
ing. Gray suits, neatly trimmed with silk braid, are much 
worn for uniforms. Dark blue suits, similarly trimmed, 
are also very suitable. 

The officers should be distinguished from the other cadets. 
Corporals may wear one chevron on the left arm, sergeants 
two, lieutenants three, and captains four. Sergeants may 
have a narrow gold stripe around their caps; lieutenants, 
two stripes; and the captain, a broad band. The three 
commissioned officers may wear epaulettes. 

In the public schools, in which uniforms are not in use, 
they will not be found necessary. Generally, however, 
the cadets of a public school will readily agree to procure 
some single article of uniform, as a soldier cap, or military 
buttons for their coats; and sometimes it may be that a 
company will find it convenient to procure uniforms for 
use in holiday drills, where this is a voluntary matter. 

Arms. — For a number of drills, arms are not required. 
In the scheme of drills presented later on in this chapter, 
they are not used before the eighth, at which time the music 
of the fife and drum are introduced. The purchase of guns 
involves a large expense. Wooden " imitation guns " have 
been used in some schools, and have answered every pur- 
pose. Wooden lances, tipped with spearheads of metal, 
and trimmed with ribbons of the national colors, are some- 
times used. They are supplied with a brass knob (placed 
as far from the end as the trigger of a gun is placed), in 
order that they may be held at an even height. Inexpen- 
sive swords can be procured by the officers ; also belts and 
sashes. 



148 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Manuals. — The ordinary evolutions of the company are 
prescribed in the U. S. Army Drill Regulations. 1 The 
teacher should make a careful study of this and other pub- 
lications of the kind, and it is hoped that the suggestions 
therein contained will lead teachers of public as well as 
private schools to undertake the formation of battalions of 
pupils. 

Salutes. — It is a requirement of military discipline and 
courtesy never to fail, on suitable occasions, to give or return 
a salute. The following general rules are to be observed in 
military salutations : . 

1. The Salute Uncovered. — When approached by any 
one entitled to a salute, the soldier or cadet is to as- 
sume the position of "attention," and to retain that posi- 
tion until after the officer has passed or has recognized the 
salute and told the person saluting to assume an ordinary 
position. 

The same rule holds for bodies of men or boys, as for 
individuals. The salute should never be made with the 
hand when the head is uncovered. 

2. The Salute Covered, and without Arms. — This is known 
in tactics as the " officers' salute," but is commonly used by 
both officers and cadets. It is made by raising the right 
hand, with the fingers partly extended, until the latter touch 
the visor of the cap. At the same time, the person saluting 
glances in the direction of the person saluted. The motion 
of the arm should be made easily and gracefully, and in 
such a way as to readily attract the attention of the person 
saluted. 

In the army and in some military schools the salute pre- 
scribed for all below the rank of commissioned officers is 
different from the officers' salute, and is prescribed as fol- 
lows : Raise (at the side) to a horizontal position the arm 
farthest from the officer saluted, bending the arm at the 

1 An excellent manual is Lieut. Hugh Reed's Elements of Military 
Science and Tactics. 



DBILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 149 

elbow until the finger tips touch the visor of the cap. Re- 
verse the motion, resuming the original position. 

3. The /Salute of the Hand, icith Arms. — With arms the 
salute is made by raising the left arm to the height of the 
shoulder, palm down and fingers extended, then bending 
the left elbow until the hand strikes the gun in the hollow 
of the right shoulder, the palm of the hand being down. 
The hand should be kept in this position until the salute is 
returned — or if it has not been noticed, the salute should be 
repeated. Non-commissioned officers in charge of bodies of 
men use this salute. 

Salutes are always rendered by the officers in command 
of squads and companies, and the arms should always be 
at a " cany," whether the men be marching or standing 
in ranks. It is customary to follow this rule when one 
body of soldiers or cadets passes another, except where 
they are engaged in the movements of battalion or regi- 
mental drills. 

4. The Salute with, the Sword. 1 — Commissioned officers 
salute with the sword by raising it from the position of 
"carry swords" until the hand is as high as the neck and 
about six inches in front of it, then dropping the sword so 
that the blade points downward and in the direction of the 
right foot, the right hand being at the side. 

Arms are presented only to the commander of a battalion 
or regiment, after its formation, and in the ceremonies 
of guard mounting, parades, reviews, reception of colors, 
funeral honors, and in others of a similar nature. The 
importance of the salute as a matter of courtesy and of 
military precision is not likely to be overestimated. 

Officers should insist upon receiving proper salutes, and 
should be equally careful to return them when given. 
Nothing will show careful military training more than this 
observance. 

1 In case swords are used by the officers, a Manual of the Sword should 
he consulted in reference to their use. 



150 SCHOOL RECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Fancy Drills. — One of the prettiest sights imaginable is 
a properly managed flag drill. Each pupil should have a 
flag about eighteen inches long. These may be carried in 
positions similar to those of the gun in the manual of arms, 
and their position may be changed by the same commands. 
Sufficient floor space should be obtained to allow consider- 
able freedom in evolutions. 

Practice should be long enough and constant enough to 
cause the pupils to become thoroughly familiar with every 
movement, and if a regular program be followed, no com- 
mands will be necessary for the changes in the evolutions. 
The flags may be changed by signs from the officers or the 
leaders of the drill, according to some previously concerted 
plan. 

Flags at a Carry. — Column of fours march down center, 
alternate fours go to right and left, unite at the other end of 
the hall and march down the center in sets of eight. Break 
again into fours, one set on either side of the hall, and form 
column of fours. From this, form column of twos and unite 
again into column of fours. 

Flags on the Shoulder. — Open files to the right and left 
and countermarch to right or left ; to right and left, waving 
flags to right and left. Countermarch in reverse order, 
close ranks and form squares and crosses. 

The position of the flags may be changed frequently, 
and time kept for the marching by some sort of music, the 
piano preferably. During the countermarch particularly, 
a fine effect is produced by the singing of some patriotic 
song. 

The following songs are appropriate for this purpose: 

THE KED, WHITE, AND BLUE. 

O, Columbia, the gem of the ocean, 
The home of the brave and the free, 

The shrine of each patriot's devotion, 
A world offers homage to Thee. 



DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 151 

Thy mandates make heroes assemble, 

When Liberty's form stands in view ; 
Thy banners make tyranny tremble, 

Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue. 

Chorus : 

Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue, 
Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue, 
Thy banners make tyranny tremble, 
Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue. 

When war winged its wide desolation, 

And threatened the land to deform, 
The ark then of freedom's foundation, 

Columbia rode safe through the storm ; 
With their garlands of vict'ry around her, 

When so proudly she bore her brave crew ; 
With her flag proudly floating before her, 

Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue. 
Chorus : 

Old Glory to greet, now come hither, 

With eyes full of love to the brim, 
May the wreaths of our heroes ne'er wither, 

Nor a star of our banner grow dim ; 
May the service united ne'er sever, 

But they to our colors prove true ; 
The Army and Navy forever, 

Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue. 
Chorus : 



David T. Shaw. 



HAIL, COLUMBIA! 



Hail, Columbia ! happy land ! 
Hail, ye heroes, heav'n-born band ! 
Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, 
Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause, 
And when the storm of war was gone, 
Enjoyed the peace your valor won. 
Let independence be our boast, 
Ever mindful what it cost ; 
Ever grateful for the prize, 
Let its altar reach the skies. 



152 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Chorus : 

Firm, united, let us be, 
Kallying round our liberty ! 
As a band of brothers joined, 
Peace and safety we shall find. 

Immortal patriots, rise once more ! 
Defend your rights, defend your shore ! 
Let no rude foe with impious hand, 
Let no rude foe with impious hand, 
Invade the shrine where sacred lies 
Of toil and blood the well-earn'd prize. 
While off 'ring peace, sincere and just, 
In Heav'n we place a manly trust, 
That truth and justice shall prevail, 
And ev'ry scheme of bondage fail. 

Chorus : 

Sound, sound the trump of fame, 

Let Washington's great name 

Ring thro' the world with loud applause, 

Ring thro' the world with loud applause, 

Let ev'ry clime to freedom dear 

Listen with a joyful ear ! 

With equal skill, and god-like pow'r 

He govern'd in the fearful hour 

Of horrid war ; or guides with ease 

The happier times of honest peace. 

Chorus : 

Behold the chief who now commands, 
Once more to serve his country stands — 
The rock on which the storm will beat, 
The rock on which the storm will beat, 
But arm'd in virtue firm and true 
His hopes are fix'd on heav'n and you ! 
When hope was sinking in dismay, 
And gloom obscur'd Columbia's day, 
His steady mind, from changes free, 
Resolv'd on death or liberty. 

Chorus : 

- — Joseph Hopkinson. 



DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 153 

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. 

Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light 

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming — 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, 
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming ? 
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ; 
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ? 

On that shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, 
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, 
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, 

As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? 
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, 
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream ; * 
'Tis the star-spangled banner ; oh, long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave ! 

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore 

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion 
A home and a country should leave us no more ? 

Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution. 
No refuge could save the hireling and slave 
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave ; 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. 

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation ! 
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land 

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. 
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just ; 
And this be our motto : "In God is our trust ; " 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. 

— Prancis S. Key. 

Such, a drill is particularly appropriate for flag days or 
Decoration day exercises. It is wonderful to what extent 
the enthusiasm of children will be aroused during a drill of 
this kind. 



154 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

If a piano is used to furnish the music, half a dozen or 
more patriotic airs may be played, a change in the music 
being the signal for a change in the position of the flag and 
the character of the movement. 

Other Forms of Drill. — There are many other forms of 
drill that are frequently used in public exhibitions. These 
are all based upon the same general ideas, and are subject 
to minor modifications only, that may be varied to suit the 
occasion. The military position and manner of marching 
should be observed in all forms of gymnastic work, and that 
part of the drill that has to do directly with the foot move- 
ments and setting-up exercises may be perfected in this 
way. The perfection of execution should be insisted upon, 
as the tendency is to subordinate the military movements 
to the gymnastic work. The two may be combined readily, 
as attention and accuracy are equally necessary to the suc- 
cess of either form of exercise. 

Exhibition Drills with Arms. — When arms are furnished, 
several forms of exhibition drills may be given. The com- 
mon form is known as the " silent manual," and it consists 
of a part or a whole of the manual of arms, executed without 
commands. A good deal of practice is necessary to acquire 
facility and accuracy. The different positions, of the musket 
during the movements are denoted by separate counts. 

When preparing for an exhibition, the members of the 
squad who are to give it count aloud, until they have com- 
mitted the movements and their order. After that, the 
counting is still kept up, but silently. With sufficient prac- 
tice, results of surprising accuracy may be obtained. The 
drill regulations of the United States Army prescribe certain 
forms of bayonet exercises that may be combined with the 
movements referred to above, or they may be given separately. 

There are in addition, manuals of the sword, based upon 
exercises with the broadsword and fencing foils, that will 
add much to an exhibition drill where it is possible to pre- 
sent them. 



DBILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 155 

It should be remembered that the general purpose of the 
drill is to give exercise rather than discipline, though there 
can be no real excellence in one without a certain amount of 
the other. This object may be attained by devoting nearly 
all of the time to the different "foot movements," as they 
are called. These of themselves do not give an erect and 
graceful or easy carriage. For this purpose the purely gym- 
nastic exercises referred to in another chapter are necessary. 
It is well to come back to these exercises frequently and to 
emphasize their importance. 

Boating, etc. — While the management of boats, the ability 
to swim, and the use of the bicycle are not among the accom- 
plishments taught in the curriculum of the public schools, 
they are yet intimately related to the school world. In a 
number of our State normal schools, some or all of these 
topics are receiving careful attention at the present time. 

In many denominational and proprietary schools, they 
constitute a part of the regular training.- As for the public 
schools, the teachers of these as a class have been liberal 
patrons of the bicycle — their mode of life rendering the 
wheel peculiarly valuable to them — and their summer 
vacations almost universally lead them to the invigorating 
recreations of rowing or swimming — very generally both. 

ISTo class of professional workers have greater need for 
summer rest at the lakeside cottage or on the seashore. 
Teachers, as a rule, are not unmindful of this. The summer 
" outings " are exceedingly profitable in their returns of 
renewed strength and spirits. The recreations of the vaca- 
tion have become a part of the regular calculation of the 
teacher of to-day. 

However, it is not to the teacher for his or her own sake 
alone that this chapter is written. Every teacher should 
encourage the enlightened use of the opportunities for rec- 
reation which vacations and holidays afford. 

Further, some cautions and instructions in reference to 
diversions upon or in the water should be given to pupils 



156 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

in every school. Intelligent admonition and direction here 
will save many a life elsewhere. Moreover, the effects of 
the exercise afforded by cycle riding, rowing, and swimming 
belong properly to the subject of hygiene, in which branch 
most teachers are supposed to impart instruction in some 
form, more or less formal and specific. 

Choice of a Boat. — Boating is becoming more and more a 
favorite pastime and amusement. Almost every lake resort 
now has its fleet of sailboats and steam launches, that have 
replaced the old-fashioned rowboats; and at some of the 
lakes the annual regattas are the event of the season. 

In choosing a boat, the character of the water in which it 
is to be used must be taken into consideration. For ocean 
sailing, a much heavier vessel and a less amount of sail are 
required. On rivers and lakes, the spread of sail must be 
sufficient to catch the breeze above the banks. 

While perhaps much lighter in construction, a river boat 
would not carry so much canvas on the lower spars, nor 
would it have these spars so heavy as those of a boat intended 
for use on the ocean or on the large lakes. 

Choose a boat that is sound, and likely to last. A good 
hull should be the first consideration, for any other expense 
of fitting would be thrown away if the hull is worthless. 
Find out the sort of boat you want, and try to secure it. It 
is rarely necessary to take the first thing that comes to hand. 

Management of Sailboats. — Be careful of everything in 
the management of a sailboat ; there are numberless things 
that seem to be always needing repairs. Keep the boat 
well painted, and dry inside. Sails, lockers, and drawers 
should be frequently aired, and the boat should be carefully 
housed after the season is over. 

Under favorable circumstances, it is not hard to acquire 
the art of sailing a boat ; but there are so many emergencies 
that arise, that the successful sailor in open air and fair 
weather rarely has a chance to congratulate himself upon 
his knowledge. 



DBILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 157 

By personal experience, and by sailing with those who 
have by much practice become experienced in the matter, he 
will become more familiar with the best ways to meet these 
emergencies, and will soon be in a fair way to become an 
enthusiastic sailor. The sport is one that becomes more 
fascinating as one becomes better acquainted with it, and 
the time comes when the height of the boy's ambition is to 
have a boat of his own. 

Kinds of Boats. — Much has been said and written about 
the form of sailboats, and many boats of extreme patterns 
have been built, not always with the most satisfactory 
results. 

The force of the wind on the sails tends to tip the boat 
over. This tendency may be prevented in two ways : by 
giving the boat a deep keel and ballasting it heavily below 
the water line, or by making it broad in beam. The deep- 
keeled boat will heel over ; but the greater the angle made, 
the greater the resistance of the keel will be. Such boats 
may lie almost flat with the surface of the water, and still 
right themselves, especially if heavily ballasted. 

The boat of broad beam does not tip so readily, but, after 
reaching a certain angle, is almost sure to go over. Depth 
of keel is often provided by the centerboard or leeboards. 
The very qualities that insure resistance in a boat will 
diminish speed, so that the question is evidently one of 
compromise. It is pretty generally agreed that the center- 
board is of much value, at least in pleasure craft. 

The catboat is perhaps the most common form of Amer- 
ican pleasure boat. It is intended for shallow waters, has 
little draught (being sometimes nearly flat-bottomed), and 
has great breadth of beam. It is generally an open boat, 
and usually it is fitted with the centerboard. The mast is 
placed quite near the forward end of the boat, and carries a 
single sail. This is so arranged that its area may be reduced 
one half, or it may be taken down entirely, in a very short 
time. 



158 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Sloop-rigged boats are good for racing or for use on rivers 
where sudden squalls are uncommon. The ordinary, small, 
sloop-rigged boat carries three sails — the foresail, main- 
sail, and topsail. It is more trouble to handle than the cat- 
boat, and is hardly so satisfactory for the general purposes 
of pleasure sailing. The single sail may be rigged to any 
ordinary boat, and experience is the best teacher as to the 
best methods of handling. Much can be learned of compan- 
ions who have boats about the different kinds of boats, rig- 
ging, sails, etc., or these details may be obtained from books. 
The increase of interest in sailing, and the fitting of sails 
to all kinds of boats, have given an impetus to this form of 
boating that bids fair to keep it among the first on the list 
of popular amusements on the water. 

Canoes and Canoeing. — The cost of a sailboat and the dif- 
ficulty of shipping it from place to place very often prevent 
its adoption by sportsmen, whose travels take them to vari- 
ous parts of the country. Recently the canoe has become 
very popular ; and from a small single sail its canvas has 
been gradually increased to an amount that seems enormous 
when the size of the boat is considered. 

One great advantage of the canoe is that it may be easily 
transported from place to place on camping trips ; and, when 
sails are not practicable, it can be paddled without much 
effort. Indeed, the ease with which a boat may be rowed 
has a great deal to do with its adaptability as a general- 
purpose boat. One never knows when he may be obliged 
to put away the sails and take to the oars. 

Canoe excursions have become very popular as outings 
for boys and men. Few vacations are as enjoyable as these 
may be made. A congenial party of six or seven, with 
cameras, canoes, and fishing tackle, can get more real pleas- 
ure from a few weeks' excursion than could be found in a 
whole round of summer resorts. 

It would be difficult to find a definition of a canoe to 
which exceptions might not be taken. In general, it is a 



DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 159 

small, shallow boat, pointed at both ends, and propelled by 
paddles. Recently, however, canoes have been made that 
are not small boats. Some are propelled by oars, more by 
sails. Bnt the definition given will answer very well to the 
American idea of a canoe. 

Sometimes the canoe is decked over, except in the center, 
like the boats of the Esquimaux. The rower sits in this 
opening, as near the bottom of the boat as possible, thus 
keeping the center of gravity low. The paddles used are 
those with double or single blades. In paddling with a 
double-bladed paddle, the rower should sit near the center, 
with the seat nearly on a level with the edge of the boat, as' 
he will then gain greatly in power. Using the single 
paddle, the rower sits in the stern, and paddles on each side 
alternately, or varies the stroke to propel the canoe in the 
desired direction. 

The canoe is of various length, from four or five feet (a 
length common in dugouts and bark canoes) to twelve or 
sixteen feet (the size of some of the partially decked cedar 
boats). In case a double-bladed paddle is used, it should 
be divided in the middle, the parts fitting together with a 
brass ferrule. Sometimes the edges of the blades are placed 
at right angles to each other, so that while one side is used 
for the propelling stroke, the other presents the edge to the 
air and is not affected by the resistance that otherwise is 
very perceptible when paddling against a hard wind. 

Rowers sometimes use a double-bladed paddle as long as 
fourteen feet, and stand erect in the boats. This plan gives 
great speed, but a good deal of skill and practice is required 
before one can succeed in going far without tipping over. 
The canoe is usually steered with the paddle, but sometimes 
a rudder is attached, which can be directed with the foot. 

Canoes intended for sailing have been fitted with various 
sorts of centerboards, the most common being a sort of fan- 
shaped arrangement that can be caught up to the bottom of 
the boat when not in use. The general tendency seems to 



160 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

be to dispense with the centerboard in the ordinary work 
which can be expected of the canoe. 

The canoe sail must be of such a kind that it can be 
adjusted without the canoeist's leaving his seat. It must 
be simple, so that no complications are likely to arise in 
handling it. Leg-of-mutton sails are perhaps the safest and 
most handy form. 

The best sails are of linen or of a mixture of silk and 
cotton. The mast should be a stout piece of pine. In 
handling the sail, a good-sized soft cotton rope is preferable 
to one of hemp, as it does not hurt the hands. 

Preparations for Canoe Excursions. — In preparing for a 
canoe trip, it is well to map out the route pretty carefully, 
so that each night will find the party near some town where 
supplies may be had. If the boats are large enough, and 
the party of good size, so that supplies in quantity may be 
taken along, such precautions are not necessary. Small 
tents known as " A " tents take up very little room, and are 
very convenient where tents are used exclusively for sleep- 
ing purposes. 

They are easily set up by driving two forked stakes in 
the ground, placing a cross-piece on them, and throwing the 
canvas over it, staking the sides down firmly. A rubber 
blanket should be placed on the ground, to keep out the 
dampness. The tent should be pitched on a slight decliv- 
ity, and a ditch cut around the upper side, to drain off the 
water in case of rain. 

Provisions in the dried form will be more convenient to 
handle than those that are canned. In addition to the 
necessary outfit, by all means take a camera, if only a small 
one. It will add more than a hundred per cent to the 
pleasure of the trip, besides securing mementoes that will 
serve to recall many a pleasant time, or perhaps some un- 
pleasant ones, besides affording employment for the idle 
afternoons in developing the pictures of the summer's out- 
ing. 



BRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 161 

The canoe is particularly adapted for river cruising, and 
countless opportunities are presented in the north and west, 
indeed in all parts of the country, for a pleasure trip of 
three or four weeks' duration. The canoes can be shipped 
home by rail when the trip is ended. A canoe can easily be 
kept in good order by varnishing often, keeping iron parts 
japanned or painted, and all parts that are likely to rust, 
well oiled. Keep everything clean and as dry as possible. 

Rowing. — Rowing has many of the elements and appear- 
ances of hard work about it, and is therefore not so popular 
with the average boy as is canoeing or sailing. It is, how- 
ever, an excellent form of exercise. Beginners will find it 
best to learn with a boat of medium weight, and in smooth 
water. In propelling a heavy boat, long and slow strokes 
are used. For a light boat, shorter and quicker strokes are 
more effective. The rower should sit in the center of the 
seat, facing the stern of the boat ; and if the oars are spoon 
oars, he should turn the concave side in the direction in 
which he himself is facing. 

In making the stroke, the body should be bent at the 
hips, the back being straight, and the rower bringing the 
blades of the oars as far back as convenient, then allowing 
the oars to dip in the water, the blades being at right angles 
to it. He then steadily straightens the body backwards, 
bending the arms until the elbows are at about the top of 
the hips. 

The oars should not be more than four or five inches 
below the surface of the water in the middle of the stroke, 
unless the water is very rough. On the return stroke, the 
oars should be held near the surface or on the surface of the 
water, the flat side of the oar parallel to the surface. 

The legs play a very important part in the stroke. They 
should be kept rigidly braced from the moment that the 
stroke begins, and this exertion and relaxation of the 
muscles of the legs should always be in perfect time with 
the stroke itself. 

SCH, EEC. & AMUS. — 11 



162 SCHOOL BECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Oars are " feathered " by turning the concave side upward 
as the stroke is completed, and moving the oars to the rear, 
keeping them just on the surface of the water, until ready 
to commence the stroke again. The return of the oars 
should be slow and steady, the stroke itself short, sharp, 
and decisive. To turn the boat, reverse the action of one 
of the oars, and pull directly with the other. 

To steer a boat by means of the oars, relax the strength 
of the stroke of one oar, and increase that of the other. 
Care should be taken not to dip the oars too deep ; to exert 
the same force on each, and to prevent the interference of 
the handles of the oars with each other or with the knees. 

Swimming. — When the Athenians wished to express ex- 
treme contempt for a man, or to brand him as of unusual 
worthlessness, they said, " He cannot even swim " — or 
sometimes (to their credit) they varied it and said, "He 
cannot read or swim." Of all physical exercises, swimming 
was held to be the most useful, and it was regularly taught. 

The recruits of the German army are drilled in swimming 
and diving, the advanced exercises consisting in jumping 
from a platform into the water while in full uniform, and 
swimming out. Elaborate descriptions are given of the 
manner of carrying the gun, with its equipment, so that 
it shall suffer the least injury. 

Most of us men teachers will call to mind some place 
particularly dear to us as boys — a shady corner of the 
woods, or the back of a corn field, or a sandy, shell-strewn 
beach, where we swam years ago. We needed little train- 
ing then. If we became cramped, or lost our senses, some 
comrades were at hand to rescue us. The young of many 
animals swim naturally, and I suppose the children of pri- 
meval man did so, but it is now a matter in which we must 
have some training at least. 

In principle, swimming is very easy to understand. To 
have the body float, it is necessary only to keep it as nearly 
horizontal as possible, having the nostrils and mouth out 



DBILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 163 

of water, and to hold the breath whenever they are acci- 
dentally submerged. 

The proper position is to have the head well thrown back, 
the back hollow, the chest thrown out, the body inclined 
slightly downward, so that the feet are about three feet 
below the surface. The hands should be kept open, and 
should be extended in front of the body, and nearly hori- 
zontal from the shoulders. They should then be extended 
backwards and downwards, the palms of the hands resisting 
the pressure of the water. 

The legs should be drawn upward, the knees inward, and 
when extended, the movement should be downward and 
slightly outward. The arms and legs should be used alter- 
nately. While the legs are being drawn up, the arms should 
descend. In this way there will be the least possible loss 
of power, and the position of the body will be maintained. 

The best place for swimming is the sea ; the next best, 
running water or lakes. Ponds should be avoided generally, 
as there is danger of disease if any stagnant water is taken 
in the mouth. When bathing in the ocean or rivers near the 
ocean, tides and undertow should be reckoned upon. The 
beginner should be sure always that the bottom is not out of 
reach, for nothing is so likely to cause fear and make him 
lose his self-control. The bottom should be sandy or of 
smooth stones, and free from mud or weeds. If diving in 
a strange place, the swimmer should first test the depth 
of the water and find out the character of the bottom. 

Do not go into the water when heated or before digestion 
is finished, as cramp is more likely to occur then than at 
any other time. The swimmer who is subject to cramp may 
frequently ward it off by striking outward with the leg, as 
forcibly as possible, keeping the heel down and toes up, or 
by turning on his back and kicking in the air, being careful 
to disturb the position of the body as little as possible. 

The different movements of the hands and feet may be 
practiced before going into the water. This plan is a very 



164 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

good one for beginners to follow, as they will thus have 
a partial mastery of themselves when they begin to learn 
the process of actual swimming. After one has become a 
fairly expert swimmer, shoes and perhaps trousers should 
be added to the ordinary swimming clothes, and other 
additions made, until one is able to swim with all or the 
most of his clothes on. 

The first thing for the learner to do is to acquire con- 
fidence and to understand that the buoyancy of the water is 
sufficient to keep him up if he keeps the body in the right 
position. This confidence is, however, the result of per- 
sonal experiment and experience, and the learner should 
be gradually brought to feel it. 

The buoyant force of the water is sufficient to support the 
body, if all of it except the mouth and nostrils are kept 
under water. The head should be thrown back, so that the 
gaze is directed nearly upward. This will cause the back 
part of the head to be submerged, and only the mouth, 
nostrils, and chin will be exposed. The body will take a 
diagonal position, the feet inclining forward. 

The time of breathing is of a great deal of importance, 
especially to the learner. Inhalation should take place on 
the descending stroke of the arms, exhalation with the leg 
movements. While the arms are descending, the body is 
naturally driven forward and upward and the mouth and 
nostrils are almost sure to be out of the water. On the other 
hand, when a downward movement of the legs is taking 
place, the body naturally sinks ; and at this time the mouth 
may be under water. If so, the exhalation of the breath 
will naturally prevent the water from entering. 

After the swimmer has acquired perfectly the stroke and 
the position of the body, he should begin to venture swim- 
ming for some distance or in rough water. He should 
remember, however,' that the point which is of the most 
practical value is that of the conservation of his own en- 
ergy ; that he must be able to keep himself afloat, as well 



DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 165 

as to swim ; that the question often is not how much he can 
do, but how long he can remain in a given position, how 
well he can command the forces of the mind and body. 

Bernardi's Method of Swimming. — The system of swim- 
ming, known as " Bernardi's Method," is based upon this fact. 
It assumes, as its first principle, the necessity for keeping 
the body afloat ; and all further movements are based upon 
this. The teaching is begun by supporting the pupil under 
the shoulders, the head being out of water, and correcting 
the position of the limbs, showing how to assume the 
correct position of the body. 

By the time this is learned, the pupil can support him- 
self, or float, but he soon finds that every movement of the 
body or head will cause the body to sink, so that he must 
learn how to correct the loss of position that may result 
from these involuntary movements. By extending the arms 
laterally, holding the head well back, and keeping one leg 
forward and the other back, it is possible to float for an 
almost indefinite time. The motions used to advance the 
body by this system are very similar to the old system, except 
that they are perhaps more sweeping and more deliberate. 

Swimming on the back is but a modification of this 
system, and is useful, when combined with the ordinary 
system of swimming, as a means of rest, the body floating 
more easily in that position. Young swimmers and all 
beginners should bear in mind constantly that the object 
of learning to swim is to preserve life while in the water, 
and that endurance and saving of energy means far more 
than anything else. 

Skill and quickness are often necessary, but staying 
power is more so. Boys should not only be encouraged to 
learn to swim, but should be required to learn, especially 
if their future lives or occupations are likely to take them 
upon the water. The natatoriums and swimming schools 
are now so common in cities that none need be deprived of 
an opportunity to learn this valuable accomplishment. 



166 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Drowning. — As the consideration of all sports conducted 
on the water suggests the possibility of drowning through 
carelessness or unforeseen exigencies, it may be well to give 
here some directions for the restoration of the apparently 
drowned. The wet clothing must be removed, and the 
body dried and well rubbed. The face should be turned 
down for a moment, and all accumulation of mucus re- 
moved from the mouth. 

If the patient cannot be made to breathe by ordinary 
means, artificial respiration must be resorted to. An easy 
method is shown by the illustrations : Lay the patient on 




Fig. 1. Artificial Respiration — Expiration. 



the back, flex the elbows, grasp the arms, and press heavily 
upon the chest (Fig. 1). Then bring the arms up above the 
head by an outward motion (Fig. 2) and repeat these move- 
ments fifteen times to a minute until the patient breathes 
naturally. 

The following is "Marshall Hall's Eeady Method" : 
First. Treat the patient instantly on the spot, in the open 
air, freely exposing the face, neck, and chest to the breeze, 
except in severe weather. 

Second. In order to clear the throat, place the patient gen- 
tly on the face, with one wrist under the forehead, that all 



DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 



167 



fluid, and the tongue itself, may fall forward, and leave the 
entrance into the windpipe free. 

Third. To excite respiration, turn the patient slightly on 
his side, and apply some irritating or stimulating agent to 
the nostrils, as veratrine, dilute ammonia, etc. 

Fourth. Make the face warm by brisk friction ; then dash 
cold water upon it. 

Fifth. If not successful, lose no time; but, to imitate 
respiration, place the patient on his face, and turn the body 
gently, but completely, on the side, and a little beyond; then 
again on the face, and so on, alternately. Repeat these 




Fig. 2. Artificial Respiration — Inspiration. 



movements deliberately and perseveringly, fifteen times only 
in a minute. (When the patient lies on the thorax, this 
cavity is compressed by the weight of the body and expira- 
tion takes place. When he is turned on the side, this pres- 
sure is removed, and inspiration occurs.) 

Sixth. When the prone position is resumed, make a uni- 
form and efficient pressure along the spine, removing the 
pressure immediately, before rotation on the side. (The 
pressure augments the expiration; the rotation commences 
inspiration.) Continue these measures. 

Seventh. Rub the limbs upward, with firm pressure and 
with energy, the object being to aid the return of venous 
blood to the heart. 



168 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Eighth. If possible, substitute for the patient's wet cloth- 
ing such other covering as can be instantly procured, each 
bystander supplying a coat or cloak, etc. Meantime, and 
from time to time, to excite inspiration, let the surface of 
the body be slapped briskly with the hand. 

Ninth. Rub the body briskly till it is dry and warm, 
then dash cold water upon it and repeat the rubbing. 

Avoid the immediate removal of the patient, as it in- 
volves a dangerous loss of time; the use of bellows, or other 
forcing instrument ; the warm bath, and all rough treatment. 

Cycling. — The use of the bicycle, formerly regarded as a 
mere amusement, has become a common form of locomotion. 
In many parts of our country bicycles are as numerous as 
horses, and often are of far greater value to their owners. 
There is but little question of the general value of cycling 
as an exercise. Indulgence to a moderate extent must be 
beneficial. The exercise is probably abused less than any 
other. The idea of self-propulsion is not a new one by any 
means. It has taken something over a century to evolve 
from the first rude machine our pneumatic-tired, steel-forged 
frame of to-day, but the modern wheel and rider are crea- 
tions of the last few years. 

A patent was issued in Paris about 1816, for "a machine 
called a velocipede, formed of a seat supported upon two 
wheels, which obey the motions of the feet of a person on 
the seat and which transport him with great quickness." 
The velocipede of 1816 quickly passed out of favor, and 
about 1877 the first manufacturing of bicycles was begun in 
this country. Cycling has become popular with the masses 
only since the common use of the " safety " form of wheel. 

Since that time the bicycle has become a necessity rather 
than a luxury. In cities it will be the common means of 
getting about, and at no distant date bids fair to take the 
place of the horse in everything except the movement of 
heavy loads. There is no doubt that the bicycle has had 
and will continue to have a very beneficial effect upon the 



DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 169 

health, of the great majority of riders, for it has been adopted 
by the very class that has been almost entirely without 
exercise in any form. 

The united influence of bicycle riders has had a great 
effect upon road building and repairing ; and as the organi- 
zations of wheelmen become more effective, more and better- 
kept roads will be found. The bicycle has done a great deal 
to advance what may be called the feeling of friendship in 
athletics. Man naturally desires association and companion- 
ship, and the bicycle tour is one of the pleasantest forms of 
summer outing. The bicycle, first an amusing toy and after- 
wards a source of pleasure for the athlete, has become almost 
a necessity. The business man, the schoolboy, and the man 
and woman of society alike, find health and exercise in its use. 

There are about thirty different kinds of standard bicycles 
that are made in this country. Of these six might be se- 
lected that are almost equally good. Any one of them will 
be found to be entirely satisfactory, for their differences are 
mainly those of form. In selecting a bicycle, the usual rule 
will hold that the best is the cheapest ; but of two or three 
equally good machines, one will perhaps suit the personal 
peculiarities of the rider better than another. 

Except for track riding or racing, do not make the mistake 
of getting too light a machine. The wheel that is to stand 
the roughness of country roads and the unevenness of city 
pavements, that is to be solid, reliable, and trustworthy in 
all conditious, must have some weight. For road work, 
twenty-four to twenty-eight pounds is a convenient weight. 
There are many different varieties of saddles, some pneu- 
matic, others made of wire and still others of various ma- 
terials and shapes. Here the rider must consult his own 
wishes and preferences again. That saddle will be best for 
him that he finds most comfortable. 

After purchasing the bicycle, the test — learning to ride — 
is in order. As it is a question of preserving one's balance, 
and exerting one's strength, at the same time, while keeping 



170 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

close watch ahead for all kinds of breakers, there is really 
but one way to learn, and that is by making the most of 
every little item of experience gained. 

If a rider is fortunate enough to have companions who will 
help him in the process, he may learn to balance more easily 
by fastening a heavy leather belt about the waist, having 
short straps attached, one on each side. If his comrades 
take hold of these straps, they can easily check any impulse 
toward upsetting. Ordinarily, ability to maintain one's 
balance will come very qiiickly, and then the learner is 
ready for the road. 

He should select, if possible, one that is straight, level, 
and smooth, and should practice until he can ride without 
difficulty, not only keeping his position, but making the 
machine obeydiis guidance. He should become expert in 
this as soon as possible, for the good of his machine. 

Beginners often find that the bicycle is apparently quite 
unruly, going in the very places where they do not wish it 
to go. That is a fault in the management and guidance of 
the machine, which the rider will soon be able to correct. 

Having once mastered the tricks of the wheel, the rider is 
prepared to begin his career of active enjoyment. There 
is a sense of freedom and exhilaration and freshness of 
mind and body, a getting away from the troubles and 
trammels of daily life, -that comes from a sharp spin in 
the early morning, that can find no comparison unless it 
be a ride in the cab of an engine, at a rate of fifty miles 
an hour. The exercise is at once healthful and invigorat- 
ing, and tends to the formation of associations and friend- 
ships that are of the greatest pleasure and benefit. 

It is to be feared, however, that bicycle clubs are not all 
that they pretend to be, or are something more. Too often 
they are united by one bond only, the love of cycles and 
cycling. The crowds of somewhat noisy, blustering fellows, 
who forge along country roads at the rate of fifteen miles 
an hour, insisting upon their rights and much more, making 



DRILLS, BOATING, CYCLING, ETC. 171 

day and night hideous with their calls and yells — or who 
congregate,diightly in the club houses to talk of nothing but 
tires, frames, and records, do not fairly represent (we hope) 
the great class of people who find enjoyment and pleasure 
in the wheel. 

Very few of these evils that seem to be associated neces- 
sarily with club life would find any place in a school club. 
Almost every school now has enough riders in it to form a 
very fair-sized association; and rides for Saturday after- 
noons can be planned and carried out frequently. For a 
summer vacation, a trip of one or more weeks would 
quicken the perceptions to a wonderful degree. 

Youths are likely to have very narrow conceptions of 
geography in general, outside of what they have learned 
from their text-books ; and there is no better,, way of teach- 
ing how wide and varied the world is, than to let them begin 
their explorations and investigations near their homes. 
The knowledge gained upon these tours is apt to be very 
clear and very definite — altogether different from that 
obtained by a railway journey. A club of three or four con- 
genial friends could in their vacations acquire a knowledge 
of geography of their own State or of adjoining States, that 
might contribute greatly to their success in the business of 
life. 

The bicycle has opened to women a new field for exer- 
cise that promises both health and strength. Appearances 
would indicate that the bicycle will do much more for them. 
It has encouraged to a degree never before imagined to be 
possible the comradeship of the sexes, and it is probably the 
greatest agent in breaking down barriers strengthened by 
centuries of tradition. Give to woman a right to participate 
in the pleasures, exercises, and pastimes of men, and the 
absolute equality of the sexes is not far away. 

It will be admitted that the conditions of life in cities are 
not conducive to health or morality ; that rest and recrea- 
tion must be found outside ; that we, as a people, are getting 



172 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

too far away from Nature and her teachings, and live too 
much in the forced atmosphere of a social hothouse. There 
can be no remedy so efficacious as this to get back again to 
Nature, to her teachings and her works. 

It is not to be supposed that the cyclist rides with this 
moral (or even physical) effect in view. He rides simply 
because he likes it, but any one who has ridden, and who 
will take the trouble to examine his feelings and the benefits 
derived from his exercise, will find these much as they have 
been described. 

Young riders make the mistake of trying to become " pro- 
fessionals " and " scorchers " ; of assuming ridiculous posi- 
tions, and attempting equally ridiculous feats. It is probable, 
however, that these mistakes will be corrected almost as 
soon as made ; for there is so little to be gained by such a 
course that the mistake will correct itself. 

The common rule of life seems to be hurry and rush, mak- 
ing work (and hard work) even out of our pleasures ; but in 
the case of bicycle trips for pleasure, no course could be 
more unwise. Do not attempt to make so many miles a day. 
Stop when you like. Enjoy all that you can in the way of 
natural scenery or observations of life, and thus store up a 
host of pleasant recollections for after years. 

If you are the possessor of a good wheel, remember that it 
also needs good care. It should be carefully wiped after a 
ride, so as to remove all moisture and dirt, and should be 
given a thorough cleaning about once a week. 

Any looseness should be looked after at once, as well as 
any unusual friction that may be detected. The wheel 
should be kept well oiled, but free from gum or dirt. Small 
particles of dirt will work into the most intricate parts of 
the machine, and must be gotten out or much damage may 
be done. The cyclist should go prepared to repair punct- 
ures in tire, and any other common accidents ; but he should 
always remember that it is easier to avoid an accident than 
to repair a break after it is made. 



CHAPTER VII 
HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 

A Voice from Far Away. — The teacher and the writer of 
text-books of history can enter into the feelings of the author 
of the Second Book of the Maccabees (in the Apocrypha of 
the Bible), who, two thousand years ago, thus addressed 
his readers : 

We have been careful that they that will read might have delight, 
and they that are desirous to commit to memory might have ease, and 
that all into whose hands it cometh might have profit. Therefore to 
us, who have taken upon us this labor of abridging, it was not easy, 
but a matter of sweat and watching ; even as it is no ease unto him 
that prepareth a banquet, and seeketh the benefit of others ; yet for 
the pleasure of many we will undertake gladly this great pains. 

Delight in the reading of history, ease in memorizing, 
and profit in both — the points which this ancient historian 
kept in view — are certainly very desirable in any treat- 
ment of history. Many and various recreations in this 
branch of study may be employed to these ends. Some of 
these are presented here. 

Mnemonic Rhymes. — The names of the various dynasties 
and of individual rulers of monarchies, in their order, are 
not easily learned, and generally it is not deemed worth 
while to memorize them. Names and dates do not constitute 
history in the modern view of the subject, and there is now 
in the educational world a strong effort to break away from 
the mechanical and unthinking memorizing of historical texts 
which in an earlier day passed for profound knowledge. 

173 



174 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Dynastic genealogies, however, are useful as a framework 
upon which to fasten the events of history, in order to pre- 
serve the symmetry of the whole, and to indicate the rela- 
tion which certain events bear to others. Without orderly 
arrangement in the mind, history becomes a chaos of hetero- 
geneous and isolated facts. 

For this reason, various mnemonic jingles have been 
utilized as a means of fixing in the minds of pupils, in 
regular order, the names of dynasties and sovereigns. 

The Kings and Queens of England. — An old rhyme, easily 
memorized, contains the names of the successive sovereigns 
of England from William the Conqueror to Queen Anne 
(in whose reign the title of the ruler was changed), and of 
the sovereigns of Great Britain and Ireland to the present 
day, as follows : 

The Normans 

• 

First William the Norman, 
Then William his son, 
Henry, Stephen, 

The Plantagenets 

and Henry, 
And Eichard and John. 
Then Henry the Third, 
Edwards — one, two and three — 
And again, after Eichard, 

House of Lancaster 

Three Henrys we see. 

House of York 

Two Edwards, Third Eichard, 
If rightly I guess ; 

House of Tudor 

Two Henrys, Sixth Edward, 
Queen Mary, Queen Bess. 
Then James the Scotchman, 
Then Charles, whom they slew. 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 175 

(Here the Commonwealth intervenes) 

But received, after Cromwell, 
Another Charles, too. 
Next James the Second 
Ascended the throne, 
And William and Mary 
Together came on. 
When Anne, 

House of Brunswick 

four Georges, 
And Fourth William passed, 
God sent us Victoria, 
To long be the last. 

It will be seen that each of the great divisions of Great 
Britain is represented by a dynasty. The Tudors were 
Welsh, and the Stuarts Scotch, while the old royal house 
of England was descended from the Saxon kings, as well as 
from the Norman conquerors. It will be noted, also, that 
each of the last three dynasties ends with a great queen — 
the Tudors with Elizabeth, the Stuarts with Anne, and the 
Brunswicks (thus far) with Victoria. 

The Rulers of France. — In the following mnemonic verses 
are traced the rulers of Erance, through the kaleidoscopic 
changes in the form of the French government. In French 
fashion, the numerals, and not the ordinals, are employed. 

Capetian Line 

Hugh Capet (ca-pay 1 ) and Eobert (the second), 

Then Henry and Philip One are reckoned ; 

Louis the Fat and Louis the Young, 

Philip Augustus, and Louis Lion 1 ("the Lion "). 

Good St. Louis and Philip the Bold ; 

Philip the Fair we next behold ; 

Louis Ten and Baby John 

(Who was born a king) now follow on. 

Philip the Long then takes the place 

Of the baby king, who lived six days. 

Charleses Four — 



176 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Valois Line 

and Five, and Philip, then 
Good John, Wise Charles, and a Charles again. 
Charles the Victorious, Louis Eleven, 
And a Charles and a Louis next are given. 
Francis and Henry and Francis we see, 
Charles the Bloody, and Henry Three. 

Bourbon Line 

Next Henry the Great and Louises four. 
With the Bourbons, seemingly, all is o'er. 

THE REVOLUTION 
Napoleonic Line 

A republic, with Bonaparte at the head ; 
An empire (Napoleon One) instead ! 

Bourbon Line Restored 

But lo ! The Bourbons are back again, 

With Louis Eighteen and his brother, Charles Ten. 

House of Orleans 

Next Louis Philippe, the Citizen King, 
Then a second republic is just the thing. 

Napoleonic Line Restored 

This is overturned by a schemer, reckoned 
Napoleon Three. (Pray, who was the Second ?) 

The Third Republic 

Next a third republic at last began, 

Under Thiers (te-air 1 ), the Gray Old Man. 

Then the Marshal-President McMahon', 

Who held the reins till he handed them on 

To Grevy (gra'-vy), alas ! who in shame must go. 

Giving place to the great and good Carnot (car-no 1 ), 

Who is slain and is mourned, when Periet (pair-e-ay') 

Is called to the front, but soon makes way 

For a patriot, statesman, Francois Faure (frahn-sioah-foar). 

Live the republic ! Encore ! Encore ! 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 177 

The Rulers of Spain. — While Spain is now "lost in the 
world's debate," its rulers in old time were among the great 
directors of the destinies of Europe, and it may be worth 
the pupil's while to learn the course of the Spanish succes- 
sion in the following rhymes : 

United Houses of Aragon and Castile 

The first great sovereigns of this land 
Were Isabella and Ferdinand, 1 

House of Hapsburg 

Then Charles the First 2 (in another see 

He was known as Emperor) ; Philips three ; 3 

Charles the Second completed his line, 

House of Bourbon 

And Philip of France began to shine. 

Next Ferdinand Six, Charleses Three and Four, 

And 

French Invasion 

Joseph Bonaparte comes to power. 

House of Bourbon Restored 

Then Ferdinand Seven in the purple is seen, 
And is ruled by his consort, Marie Christine, 
Who follows as regent, and contends 
Against Don Carlos and his friends, 
Till the girl queen Isabella is grown, 
And reaches the age to rule alone. 

House of Savoy 

Amade'us, of Italy, comes to reign, 

But proves a failure and sails from Spain. 

Then comes the republic of Castelar', 



1 Ferdinand V. 2 The Emperor Charles V. 

s Philips II, III, and IV. 

SCH. EEC. & AMI'S. — 12 



178 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

House of Bourbon Restored 

Next Ferdinand Twelve wears the royal star. 

The girl queen Mercedes now is seen 

For a few short months, which intervene — 

Until the advent of Ferdy Thirteen, 

Who was never a prince, but from his birth 

Was reckoned among the kings of the earth. 

His mother, Christina, the power retains, 

While over his kingdom the boy king reigns, 

Lord and Master of all the Spains. 

Mythical History of England. — If we except the brief 
mentions of Britain derived from Roman writers, histories 
of England, as a rule, extend back no farther than to King 
Arthur, a partly historical, partly legendary British charac- 
ter of the period of the Saxon invasion, about the middle of 
the fifth century. The story of ancient Britain preceding 
his reign is told, however, from a period almost as remote 
as that of the Trojan war. It is related that Brutus, Brute, 
or Brut, a great-grandson of iEneas (the hero of "Vergil's 
^Eneid), conducted a band of Trojans to Britain, and 
founded the city of London, exterminating a race of ab- 
original giants in the island. One of his companions, 
Corin'eus is supposed to be the original Jack the Giant- 
killer of nursery legend. In Book II, Canto X, of Spenser's 
Faerie Queene 1 is given an account of all the reigns of 
British sovereigns from Brutus to Uther, the father of 
King Arthur. This account is well worth perusal, not only 
for an acquaintance with the style of Spenser, but because 
of its relation to semi-historical and legendary characters 
which appear in various forms of literature. Among these 
are especially to be noted the following : 

Debon, whose name is given to Devonshire. 

Corineus, who gave his name to Cornwall. 

Canute (not to be confounded with the later Danish king 
of the same name), who gave his name to Kent. 

1 This canto is contained in Skinner's Readings in Folk-lore. 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 179 

Albanact, from whom the name Albany is derived. 

Camber, from whom the name Cambria originated. 

H umber, from whom the Humber River takes its name. 

Sabrina, from whom the Severn River (Latin Sabrina) 
was named. 

(These etymologies must not be accepted as well estab- 
lished. They indicate only the manner in which the origin 
of the names was accounted for in popular legends.) 

Leir, the King Lear of Shakespeare's drama. 

Ferrex and Porrex, who were the subjects of the first 
tragedy in English (which bears their names as its title), 
by Thomas Sackville. 

Lud, who gave his name to Ludgate, in London. 

Kimbeline, the Cymbeline of Shakespeare's play. In 
his reign the Saviour was born. Kimbeline is supposed to 
have given his name to the Campbells of Scotland. 

Coel, the " Old King Cole " of the nursery rhyme. He 
is said to have been the father of the empress Helena 
(St. Helena), mother of Constantine, the first Christian 
emperor of Rome. 

Bunduca, or Bonduca, the Boadicsea of history and of 
poetry, who heroically strove to defend her land against the 
Romans. 

Vortigere, the Vortigern of history. 

The reading of the canto mentioned will prove a most 
interesting and profitable recreation for a class in English 
history. The narrative is so doubtful in many parts that 
historians reject it as without authority, yet it certainly 
throws some light on a dark subject, and doubtless contains 
much of truth in relation to early Britain. The reading of 
Spenserian stanzas is a desirable exercise in itself. The stanza 
employed in the Faerie Queene has been used as a model by 
many poets succeeding Spenser. The last line, an alex- 
andrine (of six feet) adds much to the beauty of its recital. 

Pre-Columbian Discoverers of America. — In one of Dr. 
Emerton's historical theses at Harvard University were dis- 



180 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

cussed systematically the claims of various nationalities to 
the honor of having discovered America, and a complete 
bibliography upon the subject was prepared. 1 Only the 
claims which rest upon historical documents were con- 
sidered, yet these related to nine separate discoveries, 
claimed by various nationalities. The most of these are 
involved in obscurity and doubt, yet each presents an inter- 
esting field for investigation and study. The claims put 
forth for the different discoveries are as follows : 

1. That a Chinese Buddhist priest, in a.d. 499, sailed 
eastward to the western coast of America, which he named 
Fusang. The claim rests upon the narrative of a Chinese 
chronicle by one Ho'li Shin, and various circumstances 
seem to favor its probability. 

2. That a Norse viking, Leif Er'ikson, in the year 1000, 
visited the coasts of Newfoundland, Massachusetts, and 
Ehode Island. This is now generally accepted, and there 
are in the United States various statues in honor of the 
Norse discoverer. The Norse name for the coast which 
the vikings settled was Vinland. Circumstantial accounts 
of the vikings in America are found in various sagas of 
the North. 

3. That eight Arabs of one family (the Maghrou'ins), 
about the year 1125, sailed through the straits of Gibraltar 
and reached the coast of America. The authority is an 
Arabic manuscript, centuries old. The opinion is generally 
held that this discovery concerned some islands in the 
Atlantic, and not the American continent. 

4. That Mad'oc, a Welsh prince, conducted two voyages 
to the coast of North America in 1170, and left here a num- 
ber of colonists. To this alleged discovery there are various 
allusions by old Welsh bards. The subject forms the theme 
of Southey's poem of Madoc. The tendency of later criti- 
cism is to throw discredit upon the story, but there is much 

1 This syllabus is contained in Anderson's America Not Discovered by 
Columbus. 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 181 

controversy concerning it, both in Great Britain and in the 
United States. 

5. That two Venetians, Nicolo and Antonio Zeno (clzay'-no) , 
in 1380, discovered the American continent, which they 
named Estotiland. The claim is based upon alleged letters 
of the Zeni, which were published by their descendants in 
Venice in 1558. The comments of several European inves- 
tigators of this claim are favorable, while those of American 
authors and students are not, as a rule. 

6. That the Portuguese navigator, Cortereal (cor-ta-ra-awl'), 
discovered Newfoundland in 1463. This claim is not gen- 
erally accepted. 

7. That a Polish pilot, Jehan Scol'vus, Kol'nus, or Scol'- 
nus, in the year 1476, sailed to Labrador. The opinions 
expressed by critics in reference to this alleged discovery are 
generally favorable. 

8. That Martin Behaim (ba'-hime), a German, of Nurem- 
berg, in 1488, discovered South America. The account of 
this alleged discovery, in the chronicles of Schedel (sha'-del), 
appears to be an interpolation, in a different handwriting ; 
and though Behaim's globe represents an American coast, 
it is held by some that he drew it from conjecture and 
not from knowledge. This claim is by many considered 
unfavorably. 

9. That Cousin (coo-san r ) of Dieppe, France, in 1488, 
discovered the mouth of the Amazon, which he named the 
Maragnon. Opinion is divided as to the truth of the claim. 

In the foregoing, there is no mention of Brendan, Brandan, 
or Boranclan, the Irish monk who, as is claimed, discovered 
America in the sixth century; for there are no historical 
documents, but only legends, concerning this navigator. 

It is a matter of sentimental interest to the various 
nationalities concerned that they contributed something to 
the impression in the minds of many, in the days preceding 
Columbus, that land had been known west of the Atlantic. 
This impression, a vague and unsatisfactory one, was widely 



182 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

diffused, and doubtless influenced Columbus in favor of bis 
great project. In a nation made up like ours, from all tbe 
elements of European population, all tbese claims are of 
interest, and can be entertained without prejudice. 

The Iconoclasts. — Tbe iconoclasts of old, as the etymol- 
ogy of their name indicates, were the destroyers of sacred 
images. The term by which they were designated is now 
applied to those historical critics who have demonstrated 
the mythical character of much that was received in a 
former day as historical. It is not always agreeable for 
people to give up their beliefs long cherished; and the 
results of later historical criticism have not been always 
welcome. The iconoclasts have relentlessly torn from the 
pages of history very much that was a source of delight to 
readers of former times ; and as the work continues, the 
question is often asked, How much of history shall be left 
after they have gone through it all ? It is possible that a 
future age will be more inclined to belief than is the one in 
which we live, and that the judgment of the- iconoclasts will 
be reversed in respect of many things. 

History and Folk-lore. — It must be remembered, however, 
that the narratives which are excluded by rigid criticism 
from the pages of history are by no means lost, but are 
added to the pages of folk-lore, which is now a study of 
great and growing interest. The folk-lore of ancient Eome 
is more interesting than its veritable history, and to the 
general public it is much more important, in view of its 
relation to literature and art. Still, the line of distinction 
between history and folk-lore should be carefully main- 
tained. 

"The illusions of history," says Hubert M. Skinner, 
" are almost infinite in number, and illusory etymologies 
are very apt to lead the unwary scholar astray. The criti- 
cal student of history will be amazed at the number of 
errors which are shown to have crept into almost every 
historical work of the past ; and he will appreciate the 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 183 

magnitude of the task presented to one who would under- 
take now to write a history — to sift out and eliminate 
from his facts all error, leaving only the exact truth, in 
accordance with the rigid requirements of modern histori- 
cal criticism. From all this labor, perplexity, and con- 
scientious care the student of folk-lore, who loves folk-lore 
for its own sake, is free. It matters not at all whether the 
head of Horace Greeley did or did not shoot up through the 
top of Hank Monk's coach ; whether Peter Cartwright really 
did or did not blaze his way with a hatchet through the lab- 
yrinth of corridors in a New York hotel ; whether Zachary 
Taylor, imperturbable in the midst of the hottest fire, did or 
did not drawl out, 'A 1-i-t-t-l-e more grape, Captain Bragg.' 
In either case, the story is equally good. If it be character- 
istic of the person to whom it is applied, it will answer 
every purpose of folk-lore." 

" But does any sensible man regret," says Dr. William 
Mathews * — "or any sensible woman, in this age of Somer- 
villes, Stowes, and Martineaus — that he is no longer 
cheated by the fictions that amused his childhood ? — that 
he has ceased to believe that Romulus and Remus were 
suckled by a wolf, and that Jack the Giant-killer, Sinbad 
the Sailor, and Robinson Crusoe, were flesh-and-blood per- 
sonages ? If not, why should he mourn because some re- 
lentless investigator threatens to sweep away the myths 
that have deceived his maturer judgment by suggesting 
grave doubts whether Curtius did actually jump into the 
gulf, or whether there was any gulf for him to leap into ; 
whether Portia swallowed live coals ; whether Xerxes cut 
a canal through Mount Athos, and clouded the sun with the 
arrows of his soldiers, etc. . . . Let us cultivate a reverent 
love for Truth ; — pure Truth, without gloss, alloy, or adul- 
teration. Let us seek to know ' the truth, the whole truth, 
and nothing but the TRUTH,' in history, in science, in 

iFrom Mathews' Hours with Men and Books. 



184 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

literature, and in religion, at whatever sacrifice of our 
prejudices, or whatever havoc it may make with our fondly 
cherished illusions ; for, if there is any truth which all the 
experience of the past thunders in our ears, it is that 
falsehood is moral poison — that any short-lived pleasure 
which we may derive from cheating ourselves or from being 
cheated, will be dearly paid for by the disappointment and 
anguish which will be ours when the veil shall be torn away, 
and we shall see things as they are." 

Work of the Iconoclasts in American History. — The icono- 
clasts have busied themselves with Columbus. Not only is it 
now believed that he was not the first discoverer of America, 
but it has been shown that his remains do not rest in the 
Cathedral at Havana (as was believed until recently), and 
most investigators are now satisfied that his first landing 
place was Watling Island, and not Guanahani, or Cat Island. 
A monument has been erected recently on Watling Island in 
commemoration of the discovery. The name which Columbus 
gave to this island was transferred to Guanahani, in the 
belief that the latter was the first landing place of the great 
admiral. 

The familiar anecdote which is related of the boy George 
Washington, the hatchet, and the cherry tree, while dear to 
every American child, and valuable to every parent and 
teacher as affording a moral lesson to the little ones in 
their care, is regarded by critics as purely an invention, 
though it has never been disproved. 

The story of the rescue of Captain John Smith, by the 
Indian '-princess" Pocahontas, from death by the execu- 
tioners of King Powhatan — which lends romance to the 
early history of Virginia — is by many accounted a myth. 
It rests solely upon the statement (made for the first time 
many years after the alleged occurrence) of the famous cap- 
tain, who is accused of unblushing and habitual mendacity, 
and who made use of the tale for advertising purposes. 
Even if it has a foundation of fact, the terms employed in 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 185 

the narration, as long received, conveyed an absurdly wrong 
impression. Pocahontas was not a princess, but a miser- 
able savage child — though she became civilized and refined 
to a certain extent through her later association with the 
English, and through her marriage to Rolfe. Her intro- 
duction to society in England was another part of Smith's 
advertising scheme. 

The story that the horse of General Stark sank beneath 
its rider, being killed at the battle of Bennington, is without 
foundation of fact, though it is repeated by various histo- 
rians. It is true that Stark lost his horse in the confusion 
of the skirmish, and afterwards advertised it as stolen. 

The reply of Charles C. Pinckney to the French Com- 
missioners — "Not one cent for tribute — millions for 
defense," is not historical. The cent was not coined in 
that day. Mr. Pinckney's reply really was " Not a penny — 
not a penny." 

It has been a thousand times repeated to the discredit of 
the British soldiery in Louisiana in the time of the war of 
1812, that the password before the battle of New Orleans 
was " Beauty and Booty." The matter was thoroughly in- 
vestigated, however, and every British officer who survived 
the battle declared that there was not a word of truth in it. 

Early in the present century some careless writer, in 
speaking of the battle of Tippecanoe, stated that General 
Harrison was dispatched with an army against Tecumseh, 
whom he defeated, the result of the battle being a lasting 
peace between the whites and the Indians. This account 
has been repeated or paraphrased by various writers. 

The facts are, that Harrison was not a general at that time, 
but the governor of Indiana Territory ; that he marched to 
the northern part of Indiana with a following of militia, in 
a purely defensive campaign ; that Tecumseh was hundreds 
of miles away, and had left orders that the Indians should 
riot fight ; that the Indians made a sudden attack upon the 
governor's camp, but were soon repulsed, Harrison's loss 



186 SCHOOL RECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

being sixty-two killed or mortally wounded ; that so far 
from putting an end to the hostilities or leading to any 
treaty of peace, the battle of Tippecanoe, as it is called, was 
the beginning of about three years of terror on the frontier, 
and of a long series of engagements between the white 
settlers and the Indians. Following upon this battle were 
the siege of Fort Wayne, the massacre of Fort Dearborn, the 
Pigeonroost massacre, etc. Almost every settlement in 
Indiana remained in a state of alarm, the men being banded 
together for defense, and the houses being built, generally, 
with a view to resisting attacks, and supplied with loopholes 
through which the inmates might shoot. The title of " Hero 
of Tippecanoe " was applied to Harrison in derision, many 
years later, when he was a candidate for the presidency, and 
after the skirmish at Tippecanoe had been eclipsed by his 
greater achievement on the Thames. However, like the 
other epithets used in the campaign — such as "The Log 
Cabin Candidate," "The Coon-hunting Candidate," "The 
Hard Cider Candidate," etc. — the title of "Hero of Tippe- 
canoe " was adopted and proudly used by the followers of 
Harrison; and in view of the bravery and good management 
which the young governor exhibited throughout the severe 
skirmish at Tippecanoe, it was not unmerited. 

All the old pictures of the battle of New Orleans repre- 
sent the American defenses as made up principally of cotton 
bales. General Jackson, however, always denied that these 
were used. The breastworks of the Americans were made 
of earth, and the story originated from the fact that a few 
bundles of manufactured cotton goods were thrown into one 
of the mud walls, which was a matter of very little import, 
contributing little or nothing to the success of the battle. 

Among the anecdotes of the Mexican war none is better 
known than the alleged order of General Zachary Taylor to 
a subordinate officer, "A 1-i-t-t-l-e more grape, Captain 
Bragg." Captain Bragg, however, always asserted that no 
such order was received by him. 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 187 

Many commonly received stories of the war of the Seces- 
sion have been found lacking in authenticity. Whittier's 
poem of Barbara Frietchie relates an incident which never 
occurred, although an old dame having the name of his 
heroine lived in Frederick, Maryland, at the time when 
" Stonewall " Jackson's army marched through the town. 

Poetry and song have represented the brave Admiral 
Farragut as having lashed himself to the mizzenmast above 
the smoke of battle, in the engagement in Mobile Bay, in 
order that he might signal his men from a position so advan- 
tageous and so perilous. As a matter of fact, however, 
Farragut was not lashed to the mast, but for a few moments 
stepped up into what is called the main rigging. 

There is a general impression that Daniel Webster voted 
for the Fugitive Slave Law, and this is stated as a fact in 
more than one historical publication. In fact, however, 
Webster was not a member of the Senate at the time when 
the bill passed, but was serving as Secretary of State. 

Popular belief credits Henry Clay with the authorship of 
the Missouri compromise of 1820, by which slavery was 
restricted from the federal territory lying north of latitude 
36° 30', exclusive of the State of Missouri. 

The author of this restriction was Jesse B. Thomas, of 
Illinois. While Clay voted for this compromise, he was 
not active in securing its adoption. This compromise 
secured the passage of an " enabling act " authorizing the 
people of Missouri to form a Constitution (permitting 
slavery). However, when that document was prepared, it 
was found to contain an obnoxious provision excluding free 
negroes from the State; and even though this should be 
stricken out in order to secure the final admission of the 
State, it was feared that the Missourians would again insert 
it in the Constitution later on, after their State should have 
been admitted. 

An additional compromise was found necessary in 1821, 
and this was the work of Henry Clay. The objectionable 



188 SCHOOL BECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

provision in reference to free negroes was stricken from the 
Constitution, and a " solemn public act " was passed, by 
which the new State gave pledge that the provision should 
never be enacted. And thus the admission of the State of 
Missouri was the result of two successive compromises, with 
the last of which Henry Clay is properly accredited. 1 

The deprecatory question, "Who is James K. Polk?" 
has become historical. At the time of his nomination it 
was claimed by his opponents that he. was a man utterly 
unknown to the people ; and numerous writers in later days 
have been misled by this taunting inquiry into speaking of 
him as an "obscure man." 

The fact, however, is, that Mr. Polk bad not only been 
elected governor of Tennessee in a campaign conspicuous 
in its interest ; had not only been an active member of Con- 
gress for many years, but had served twice as Speaker of 
the House of Eepresentatives — thus occupying the most 
influential position in the Federal Government after the 
presidency itself. The terms of his Speakership were very 
notable ones, and in a number of instances he was rendered 
peculiarly conspicuous as the presiding officer of the House. 
Whatever may have been the measure of his abilities, he 
certainly was not an " obscure man " as candidate for the 
presidency. 

It is very generally believed that Chief Justice Taney, in 
his decision on the Dred Scott case in 1857, declared that a 
slaveholder was privileged to conduct his slaves into any 
Territory or State without forfeiting his ownership of them. 

Chief Justice Taney made no such direct decision in 
reference to States. 2 He held that slavery might be main- 
tained in the Territories, since the latter were the common 
property of all the States. Accordingly, he held, the fact- 



1 This is fully explained in James G. Blaine's Twenty Years of Congress, 
and elsewhere. 

2 The reader will find a very clear exposition of this famous decision in 
addresses by Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln-Douglas debate of 1858. 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 189 

of Scott's master's having taken him to Fort Snelling (in a 
free Territory) did not operate to free the slave. As to the 
fact of Scott's having been taken to the free State of Illi- 
nois, the Supreme Court left it as a matter for the State 
courts (Missouri courts in this instance) to decide what 
effect such an act would have upon the status of the slave. 
In this connection, it may be added, many persons believe 
Chief Justice Taney to have decided that a negro had no 
rights which the white man was bound to respect. No such 
decision was made, although a statement similar to this was 
made by the chief justice as illustrative of opinions exist- 
ing in a former age. 

It would seem that there is nothing more purely American 
than the old song of Yankee Doodle; yet both song and words 
(except that Yankee has been substituted for "Nankee") 
elate back to the time of the English commonwealth. 

Dixie's Land is a' synonym for the South, especially the 
old South at the time of slavery; yet it has been shown 
that the original "Dixie's Land" (or Dix's Land) was an 
old estate in New York. 

Work of the Iconoclasts in General History. — Iconoclasts 
have been doing work in English history. As previously 
stated, nearly all the accounts relating to England previous 
to the Saxon invasion (with the exception of a few records 
which we have derived from Latin authors, and relating to 
the Romans in Britain) have been rejected for centuries as 
u'nhistorical. Within recent times, some of the fondly 
cherished beliefs of the English concerning their earlier 
history have been overturned. One of these was the belief 
that the Parliament of England dated back to the time of 
Egbert, and that in the reign of this monarch the name of 
the country was changed from Britain to England. Both 
the Parliament and the name were of later origin. 

Many unimportant but generally accepted anecdotes of 
noted Englishmen are shown to be untrue, as a few examples 
will illustrate. 



190 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

The story that Milton, composing his Paradise Lost while 
blind, dictated the lines to his daughters, who wrote the 
poem, is disproved by the fact that his daughters never 
learned to write. 

The story that Sir Isaac Newton cut a doorway to admit 
his cat into his chamber, and then made a separate and 
smaller one for the kitten, must be mythical, since the 
philosopher never permitted a cat to enter his apartments. 

" Up guards and at them," is believed generally to have 
been a command of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo. 
The duke, however, always denied that he had made use of 
any such words. 

The Germans have recently and officially discountenanced 
the story of William Tell, by ordering that it be excluded 
from the history taught in the schools. 

Two stories of Emperor Charles V are no longer received 
as truth by critics. One of these is, that he amused himself 
in his later years in endeavoring to make a collection of 
clocks and watches keep exact time together. Another is 
that, in anticipation of his own death, he ordered a mock 
funeral to be celebrated, and witnessed it. 

Mention has been made already of the transfer of many 
of the stories of ancient Rome from history to folk-lore. 
Critics regard these as exceedingly valuable adjuncts to his- 
tory, since they illustrate the manners and life of the times 
to which they relate. 

Ancient history, as related by Greek authors, abounds in 
exaggerations. The size of the army of Xerxes, doubtless, 
is greatly overstated. The same is true of the dimensions 
of the walls of ancient Babylon. The story that Xerxes 
caused the sea to be whipped in punishment for its damage 
to his fleets, like the account of Hannibal's dissolving the 
Alpine rocks with acid to clear his way, and like many of 
the stories which have been told of Semiramis, Cleopatra, 
and others, are now received with incredulity. Within 
recent years the ancient history of Egypt has been deci- 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 191 

phered from ancient Egyptian writings. Formerly, our 
supposed knowledge of the subject was derived largely from 
the books of Greek and Latin authors, who recorded the 
vague rumors and legends which were told to them of that 
wonderful land. The true source of Egyptian history (the 
records of the nation) now take the place of the absurd 
jumble of folk-lore hitherto received. It will prove an 
interesting recreation to compare the statements of a recent 
text-book relating to Egypt, with those contained in almost 
any book of an earlier day. 

Some of the best text-books of general history, in their 
treatment of early Rome, make use of two kinds of type, 
one for the authentic history, and the other for the legend- 
ary narrative. This is an excellent plan; while both of 
the latter should be presented, they should be clearly 
distinguished. 

Famous Sayings Misquoted. — Many notable sayings of 
historical characters are incorrectly quoted, or applied so as 
to give to them a meaning which was not originally intended. 
Sir Robert Walpole did not really say " All men have their 
price," but "All those men have their price," thus asserting 
the corruption of specific individuals, and not of mankind. 

The famous reply of William Pitt to Sir Robert Walpole, 
which has been admired for its diction, was not delivered 
by Pitt in the form in which it is written. Dr. Samuel 
Johnson, who reported the speech, was not present when it 
was delivered, and obtained the " points " which it contained 
at second hand from some persons who were present and 
heard it. 

Modern Ideas of History. — The new school of historians 
differ widely from the old in many particulars ; first of all, 
in the subject matter of their works. The histories written 
in an earlier period related chiefly to wars and treaties and 
the lives of monarchs, but said next to nothing of the life of 
the people and the internal development of the nations. 
The histories later written take account of all the elements 



192 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

of the civilization of the countries to which they relate, and 
portray the condition of the masses, and the development of 
their industrial and social life. They concern themselves 
with what the people do and think, what they eat, and 
wear, what they read, and sing. The later histories take 
into account the manufacture and commerce, the agricul- 
ture and mining, the monetary systems, the jurisprudence, 
the architecture, the roads and means of transportation, 
the liberal arts, the literatures, and the education of the 
nations. 

Another characteristic of the later histories is the respon- 
sibility of the authors. It is no longer permissible to write 
history in a slovenly manner, as did Hume, or to give cur- 
rency to statements on the assumption that they are correct 
because somebody made them before. Everything must be 
sifted and carefully inspected. Authorities must be cited, 
their statements weighed, and their accuracy subjected to 
every possible test. Original documents must be consulted. 
Nothing must be received without caution. The man who 
would write a great history now should be possessed of finan- 
cial independence, thorough education, and unflagging zeal. 
He should make his preparation the labor of years, and his 
book a life work. Histories like those of Goldsmith and 
Rollin are worthless as such, though cleverly written and 
entertaining. Histories like those of Motley, Prescott, Ban- 
croft, Parkman, Mommsen, Grote, and Macaulay are marvels 
of achievement, and will endure for ages. 

Comparison of Historians. — With these and other char- 
acteristics of historians in mind, the comparison of histori- 
cal writers becomes an interesting recreation. Almost any 
representative and extended paragraph from an historical 
work, though read anonymously, contains within itself evi- 
dences of the ideas of history in vogue at the time when 
it was written. A book of selections l from the historians 

1 Shepherd's Historical Readings will he found a valuahle hook for this 
purpose. 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 193 

will offer an excellent opportunity for the making of such 
comparison by classes in history. 

The Personal Equation in History. — Historians have their 
favorites and their aversions, and much depends upon the 
standpoints from which they severally view the personages 
of which they write. Men of very doubtful character are 
transformed into demigods by eulogists. Various modern 
historical writers have distinguished themselves by attempts 
at the " rehabilitation of old villains." In a library of his- 
torical literature you can find defenders of Benedict Arnold, 
" Bloody " Mary, the Duke of Alva, Richard III, Catherine 
de Medici, and even of the Borgias. 

The value of original sources in the teaching of history 
should be emphasized by every instructor who is called 
upon to teach the subject. No two writers of history will 
draw absolutely the same inference, to its full conclusion, 
from the sources at their command. Their work will be 
tinged, unconsciously perhaps, by the medium of their own 
minds and thoughts, by the influences under which they 
have been born and educated. In those cases in which 
men are strongly swayed by passion, self-interest, or relig- 
ious prejudice, this will be especially true. Napoleon has 
been called everything from demigod to monster, and was 
really neither. He has been charged with infamous crimes, 
or held up as a model of kingly virtues and brilliant genius. 
The careful study of original sources is the only hope for 
an adequate idea of this man, the enigma of modern history. 
Letters, memoirs, state papers of France and of foreign 
countries, newspapers, military bulletins, the battle fields 
— each will have its story to contribute to the general im- 
pression to be made of the man and of his time. 

Cromwell, who has been refused a memorial in the country 
whose religious and civil liberty he fought to establish and 
to destroy, waited for the pen of Carlyle to do justice to his 
life and work through the medium of his (Cromwell's) letters 
and dispatches. 

SCH. EEC. & AMUS. — 13 



194 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Amplification of Lessons in History. — Children who try to 
learn history from any single book will almost invariably 
haye an inadequate and incorrect conception of it. 

Not long ago I heard, in a recitation, something like this 
on the subject of Henry II of England : 

"He was a very strong king, and established the constitu- 
tions of Clarendon. Quarreling with his old friend, Thomas 
a Becket, he was guilty of the murder of that prelate, al- 
though he had no direct part in it himself. From his wife, 
Eleanor, he inherited as much territory as that over which 
he originally ruled. He had trouble with his sons, and this 
was one of the causes that hastened his death." 

This, and more of the same kind, formed what was really 
a very creditable recitation from the text-book used. It 
showed that the pupil had studied faithfully the sources at 
hand. He had learned the facts, the names, and many 
dates ; but that was all. Nothing was said of the youthful 
Henry fleeing from the enemies of his family, from castle 
to castle in Anjou and England; of his ancestors, the 
Counts of Anjou; of the Dukes of Normandy; of his 
mother's house ; of Henry himself — short, heavy-set, bull- 
necked, freckled, bow-legged, his " countenance of fire," his 
wonderful energy, wearing out his court by his furious rides 
and rapid marches ; nothing of Eleanor of Aquitaine, her 
adventures in the East, her tiring of her monkish husband 
and falling in love with the young Henry, whom she speed- 
ily married ; nothing of the legend of " Fair Rosamond," or 
of the mother of Becket making her way to England, know- 
ing only two words of English, London and Becket — with 
the many other incidents and stories that would contribute 
so naturally to the interest and coloring of the picture. 

These things the teacher must add if he wishes to make 
the study of history what it ought to be — a subject of the 
widest interest and value. 

Reference to Original Sources of History. — Ancient records 
relating to the United States are rare, and are to be found 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 195 

chiefly in great libraries. Within recent years these have 
been popularized in various ways, extracts from old books 
being published in cheap form for school use/ and repro- 
duced often in contributions to current literature, in maga- 
zines and newspapers. I will quote here a few extracts from 
notable old books, relating to American life in colonial 
days. 

The Flatey Book. — From No. 3 of the American History 
Leaflets is selected the account of Leif Erikson's discovery 
of America. It is a translation from the famous Flatey 
Book of the Norse. In it the old Norse words which are 
not yet understood by scholars are not translated. It may be 
stated that the Helluland of the Sagas is supposed to have 
been Newfoundland, and the Markland, Nova Scotia; and 
that the " Skrellings -" were, doubtless, American Indians. 

Leif, the son of Eric the Red of Brattahlid, visited Biarni Her- 
iulfsson and bought a ship of him, and collected a crew, until they 
formed altogether a company of thirty-five men. . . . One of the 
company was a Southern man named Tyrker. They put the ship in 
order, and when they were ready, they sailed out to sea, and found 
first that land which Biarni and his shipmates had found last. They 
sailed up to the land aud cast anchor, and launched a boat and went 
ashore, and saw no grass there ; great ice-mountains lay inland back 
from the sea, and it was a flat rock all the way from the sea to the ice- 
mountains, and the country seemed to them to be entirely devoid of 
good qualities. Then said Leif : "It has not come to pass with us in 
regard to this land as with Biarni, that we have not gone upon it. To 
this country I will now give a name and call it Helluland." They 
returned to the ship, put out to sea, and found a second land. They 
sailed again to the land, and came to anchor, launched a boat and 
went ashore. This was a level wooded land, and there were broad 
stretches of white sand, where they went, and the land was level by 
the sea. Then said Leif: "This land shall have a name after its 
nature, aud we will call it Markland." 



1 For the History of the United States, the Old South Leaflets, and 
American History Leaflets are especially valuable. They can be taken 
up in class, the necessary explanations having been previously made and 
the methods of their study outlined. 



196 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

A Scene in Old Virginia. — An old publication, entitled 
A Discourse of the Plantation of the Southerne Colonie in 
Virginia, contains this description : 

Thirtieth day we came with one ship to Cape Comfort : when we 
saw five Salvages on the shore. When we first came a Land they 
made a doleful noise, laying their faces to the ground, scratching the 
earth with their nails. We did think they had been at their Idolatry. 
When they had ended their Ceremonies they went into their houses 
and brought out mats and laid upon the ground ; the chiefest of them 
all sat all in a rank. The meanest sort brought us such dainties as 
they had and of their bread which they made of maize or Gennea 
wheat. They would not suffer us to eat unless we sat down which we 
did on a mat right against them. After we were well satisfied they 
gave us of their Tobacco which they took in a pipe made artificially of 
earth as ours are, but far bigger, with the bowl fashioned together with 
a piece of fine copper. After they had feasted us, they showed us in 
welcome their manner of dancing which was in this fashion : One of 
the Salvages standing in the midst singing, beating one hand against 
another, all the rest dancing about him, shouting howling and stamp- 
ing against the ground, with many Anticke tricks and faces, making 
noise like so many Wolves or Devils. One thing of them I observed : 
When they were in their dance, they kept stroke with their feet just 
one with another, but with their hands, heads, faces and bodies, every 
one of them had a several gesture : so they continued for the space of 
half an hour. When they had ended their dance, the Captain gave 
them beads and other trifling jewels. They hang through their ears 
fowls' legs : they shave the right side of their heads with a shell, the 
left side they wear of an ell long tied up with an artificial knot with 
many of fowls' feathers sticking in it. / 

When we landed the Werowance of Rapahanna came down to the 
water side with all his train, as goodly men as I have seen of Salvages 
or Christians, the Werowance coming before them playing on a flute 
made of a reed, with a crown of Deare's hair colored red in the fashion 
of a rose fastened about his knot of hair, and a great plate of copper 
on the other side of his head, with two long feathers in fashion of a 
pair of horns placed in the midst of his crown. His body was painted 
all with crimson with a chain of beads about his neck, his face painted 
blue, besprinkled with silver ore, as we thought, his ears all behung 
with bracelets of pearl, and in either ear a bird's claw through it, beset 
with fine copper and gold. 

The manner of baking of br^ad is thus: After they pound their wheat 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 197 

into flowre, with hot water they make it into paste, and work it into 
ronnd balls or cakes ; then they put it into a pot of seething water. 
When it is sod thoroughly they lay it on a smooth stone. There they 
harden it as well as in an oven. 

Pictures of Life in the Northern Colonies. — A few extracts 
from old publications relating to early life in New England 
and in New York will illustrate the value of such old writ- 
ings in presenting pictures of the old time. In a letter 
written in 1658 occur the following words, relative to a law 
of Massachusetts : 

For one law then was, If any entertain a Quaker, and keep him 
after he is warned by a magistrate to depart, the party so entertaining 
shall pay twenty shillings a week, for entertaining them. Since hath 
been made a law, If any entertain a Quaker, if but a quarter of an 
hour, he is to forfeit five pounds. Another — that if any see a Quaker, 
he is bound if he live six miles or more from the constable yet he 
mount presently go and give notice to the constable or else is subject 
to the censure of the Court (which may hang him). 

John Winthrop's history of New England from 1630 to 
1649 thus describes Mrs. Hopkins, a literary woman of 
Boston : 

Mr. Hopkins the Governor of Hartford upon Connecticut, came to 
Boston and brought his wife with him (a godly young woman and of 
special parts) who was fallen into a sad infirmity, the loss of her 
understanding and reason, which had been growing upon her divers 
years, by occasion of her giving herself wholly to reading and writing, 
and had written many books. Her husband being very loving and 
tender of her, was loath to grieve her, but he saw his error when it 
was too late. For if she had attended her household affairs and such 
things as belong to women and had not gone out of her way and call- 
ing to meddle in such things as are proper for men, whose minds are 
stronger, she had kept her wits, and might have improved them use- 
fully and honorably in the place God had set her. 

In a dialogue published in 1648 occurs this description 
of Mrs. Johnson, wife of the pastor of the Church of God 
at Amsterdam : 



198 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

In our time his wife was a worthy matron and very modest both 
in her apparel and all her demeanor and ready to do good works in 
her place and helpful to many, especially the poor, and an ornament 
to his calling. She was a young widow when he married her, and 
had been a merchant's wife. Because she had a good estate, and 
was a godly woman : and because she wore such apparel as she had 
been formerly used to, which was neither excessive nor immodest, 
for their chiefest exceptions were against her wearing of some whale- 
bone in the bodice and sleeves of her gown, cork shoes and other such 
like things as citizens of her rank then used to wear, and although for 
offence sake she and he were willing to reform the fashions of them 
so far as might be without spoiling of these garments, yet it would not 
content them except they came full up to their size. 

In the New England Plantation, published in 1630, occurs 
this description : 

Now I will tell you of some discommodities that are here to be 
found. First in the summer season, for these three months June, 
July and August we are troubled much with little flies called musqui- 
toes, being the same they are troubled with in Lincolnshire and the 
fens ; and they are nothing but gnats, which, except they be smoked 
out of these houses are troublesome in the night season. This country 
being very full of woods and wildernesses, doth also much abound 
with snakes and serpents of strange colors and huge greatness. Also 
there are some serpents called rattlesnakes, that have rattles in their 
tails, that will not fly from a man as others will, but will fly upon him 
and sting him so mortally that he will die within a quarter of an hour 
after except the party stinged have about him some of the root of a 
herb called snake-weed to put on and then he shall receive no harm. 

A Letter of Cromwell. — Certain documents relating to 
English history are exceedingly valuable. One of these, 
throwing a strong light upon the character of the writer, 
Oliver Cromwell, is an instance in point. Cromwell was one 
of the strong characters in English history, yet both the 
great political parties of England had been disposed to belittle 
his fame and to blacken his character. As a politician he 
was not sufficiently radical to suit the Puritans, notwith- 
standing his overthrow of the Cavaliers. The letter men- 
tioned illustrates the principles which generally guided 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 199 

Cromwell in the selection of men for the government ser- 
vice. A certain Lieutenant Colonel Packer, having been 
placed under arrest by General Crawford, laid his case 
before Cromwell, who wrote to recommend the restoration 
of the disgraced officer. A portion of Cromwell's letter is 
as follows : 

"Ay, but the man is an Anabaptist ! " Are you sure of that ? Admit 
he be, shall that render him incapable to serve the Public ? " He is 
indiscreet ! " It may be so in some things : we all have human in- 
firmities. I tell you, if you had none but such "indiscreet" men 
about you and would be pleased to use them kindly, you would find 
as good a fence to you as any you have yet chosen. Sir, the State, 
in choosing men to serve it, takes no notice of these opinions : if they 
be willing faithfully to serve it — that satisfies. I advised you for- 
merly to bear with men of different minds from yourself : if you had 
done it when I advised you to it, I think you would not have had so 
many stumbling blocks in your way. Take heed of being sharp or 
too easily sharpened by others, against those to whom you can object 
little but that they square not with you in every opinion concerning 
matters of religion. I have not further to trouble you : — but rest, 
Your humble servant, 

Oliver Ckomwell. 

History for Young Pupils. — History for the lower grades 
should be largely biographical. Children are fond of stories, 
and a biography possesses the unity of a narrative. The 
newer juvenile histories of the United States are largely 
based upon this idea, being but a succession of simple enter- 
taining biographies of noted men, whose lives were inter- 
woven with the progress of the nation. Biographical 
sketches of representative men serve for the portrayal of 
the times in which they lived. 

Dr. Henry E. Shepherd says : " I have long advocated the 
beginning of history teaching by the use of graphic and 
lively sketches of those illustrious characters around whom 
the historic interest of each age is concentrated. Such 
books as Abbott's Lives of Hannibal, Cozsar, Richard III, 
Mary Stuart, Elizabeth, Louis XIV, Napoleon, etc., are 



200 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

written in narrative style, and presenting history in con- 
crete, biographical form, are vastly superior to the ordinary 
compendiums as an introduction to the study of history. 
For 'history is the essence of innumerable biographies,' 
and from the very constitution of the human mind, which, 
in language, in morals, and in philosophy, first apprehends 
truth in the concrete, it would seem unwise to introduce 
the study of history without exhibiting it in concrete 
forms." 

Supplementary Literature. — For the larger pupils in his- 
tory the later aud more critical biographies are recom- 
mended, such books as the American Statesmen series and 
other standard works being very valuable as auxiliaries to 
any study of the history of our own country. 

Historical novels, such as those of Scott, Muhibach, and 
others, will be appreciated by the more advanced classes, 
and the teacher should be sufficiently familiar with these 
to suggest and direct such supplementary reading in con- 
nection with the historical studies of the class. 

Appreciation of History. — As in the life of the world the 
mythical age preceded the historical, so is it in the life of 
the individual. The age of fable and fairy lore, of Mother 
Goose and Tom Thumb — may it never pass away ! Let us 
not put solid history into minds too young to comprehend 
it. Let us leave to the little ones the stories that enrich 
and strengthen the imagination. To a little child the name 
of Washington may suggest nothing but a brown little 
urchin, a hacked cherry tree, and an angry father — all of 
which, somehow, finally made him the Father of his Country. 
At the age of ten or twelve, the child may be taught 
something of real history, which he can appreciate. He 
can now understand the story of the Greeks, their love and 
cultivation of beauty, and their love of freedom even to 
their own undoing. The youth will not soon forget how 
the little army of Miltiades marched down the slope of 
Marathon, and the mighty shout as they joined in fierce 



HISTORICAL RECREATIONS 201 

battle with the host of Darius. Neither will he forget that 
morning at Thermopylae; the companions of Leonidas, 
combing their long hair behind the low Phocian wall, play- 
ing their sacrificial games of skill and strength before offer- 
ing their lives, for Greece, to the myriads of Xerxes. He 
will not soon forget the council Clermont ; the platform in 
the open fields, surrounded by thousands of people ; the 
cowled monk, the armored knight, the peasant in his frock, 
and the women and children in the midst. He will not 
forget the emaciated form of Peter the Hermit ; his words 
of passion, exhortation, and entreaty, at times stifled by sobs 
and tears ; all of the pomp of the church of the middle ages, 
and the great cry that burst from the heart of the people, 
" God wills it ! God wills it ! " He will remember Godfrey, 
Bohemond, and Tancred marching away to the rescue of 
the holy sepulcher ; how on the 10th of June, 1099, as the 
light of day broke over the hills of Palestine, the army of 
the Crusaders saw below them the holy city; how they 
prostrated themselves and thanked God that they had lived 
to see it. "Lo, Jerusalem appears in sight. Every hand 
points out Jerusalem. A thousand voices are heard as one 
in salutation of Jerusalem." 

The modern history of Europe contains many equally 
striking pictures which, if properly presented, will fix 
themselves indelibly upon the mind. The sublimity of the 
faith of Martin Luther at Worms, his moral courage, the 
sturdy integrity of his life ; the patient heroism of William 
the Silent, and the determined defense of the Netherlands ; 
Napoleon at Pivoli or at Areola; the light-hearted, gay 
patriotism of Camille Desmoulins ; the magnificent oratory 
of Mirabeau; the tragic story of Madame Roland — these 
are a few out of many. 

Another topic, and one touching us very closely, is the 
history of the Puritans; the birth of the doctrine in the 
wonderful but somewhat narrow mind of the rigid, ascetic 
Calvin of Geneva; the soil into which the seed fell; the 



202 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Scotch. Puritans, their trials and sacrifices, their faith and 
sincerity, their superstition and cruelty. Add to this the 
history of the Puritans in Holland and New England, and 
a new field is opened for a broader and more appreciative 
study of American history. 

Emerson has well said : " We are to read history actively, 
not passively ; to esteem our own life the text, and books 
the commentary. As we read, we must become Greek, 
Eoman, Turk, priest, king, martyr, and executioner. We 
must fasten these images to some reality in our secret 
experience, or we shall learn nothing rightly." 



CHAPTER VIII 

OTHER OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOR LARGER 
PUPILS 

The Need of Outdoor Amusements. — The necessity for 
systematic exercise as a means of physical growth and de- 
velopment is sufficiently apparent to any one who will think 
upon the subject carefully; but there is one element of 
child life that has- been repressed, stunted, and in cities 
almost killed by lack of thought, by insufficient apprecia- 
tion, and too often by entirely mistaken ideas. This 
element is the love of outdoor play. 

The English are by nature a play-loving people. Put 
half a dozen healthy English boys in any surroundings you 
please, free from restraint, and in fifteen minutes some sort 
of a game will have begun. The playground is deemed so 
important by the Germans that a committee was sent to 
England, some time since, to investigate the methods of the 
English playgrounds, the games played, and their value as 
a means of development. The report of this committee was 
embodied in the public school system of the Empire. Play- 
grounds were provided, and instructors to look after them, 
to suggest games, to have the general management of the 
sports of the pupils. A report recently made to the Board 
of Education in the city of New York, recommending the 
establishment of a new school, not only provides for a 
gymnasium and bathrooms, but also for ample playgrounds 
and the necessary appliances. Any one who has been near 
the ordinary schoolhouse during recess time knows how the 
spirit of play will find expression in spite of hot pavements, 

203 



204 SCHOOL RECREATION'S AND AMUSEMENTS 

and narrow and crowded streets, under all possible limita- 
tions of time and opportunity. It is the lack of grounds 
that drives the children of the cities to the streets. It is 
the want of proper outlets for this natural desire for amuse- 
ment that drives the young to morbid, vicious, and unhealth- 
ful indulgences and habits. 

The Repression of Youthful Spirits Unsafe. — You can no 
more repress this tendency with safety than you can tie 
down the safety valve of a boiler and keep up its fires. A 
child is a miniature engine, with its fire constantly burning, 
producing intense activity of mind and body. Mental work 
is wearing, and will soon produce physical exhaustion in a 
growing child. This must be counteracted by a constant, 
careful attention to the child's amusements. The boy who 
will go away from his fellows to pore over a book (however 
interesting), and persist in this course, either is mismanaged 
or needs to be subjected to some sort of energetic treatment. 
Provision should be made for all his needs. 

At the age from six to ten, the time for reading and study 
should be much less than that for play. From ten to four- 
teen, the time should be about equally divided; while from 
fourteen on, the reading and study should be given the 
greater attention. 

The amount of knowledge gained in the schoolroom is not 
proportional to the time spent over books. In fact, it is 
often in inverse ratio to it. It is all very well in theory to 
talk of the wide-awake, energetic teacher imparting to his 
pupils his own life and vigor, making them quick, active, 
and attentive; but physical conditions often make this an 
utter impossibility. Improper ventilation, long hours, and 
the strain necessary to keep order in a large schoolroom too 
often produce the forced obedience, the listlessness and in- 
difference that are so common. There is too much of the 
repressive tendency in education, and until it is eliminated 
we cannot hope for the best results. It is my experience 
that no amount of punishment is half so effective as a half 



OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOR LARGER PUPILS 205 

hour's hard play to curb the spirit of mischief and disorder. 
When this fact is recognized and the proper remedy pro- 
vided, the government and discipline question will be much 
more easily solved. 

Play must be spontaneous and natural. It cannot be 
enforced by rule, or learned by rote. It must be attractive 
and absorbing, so as to command all the energy of the body. 
For younger pupils, it should not require special training. 

The Direction of School Amusements. — It is customary in 
some of the private schools of this country to place the 
playground in charge of one of the teachers, this constitut- 
ing a part of his regular work. When the right man can 
be chosen, a better plan could not be devised. The teacher 
must be in full sympathy with the boys, and must under- 
stand their wishes ' and desires, their temperaments and 
dispositions. He must be their companion as well as their 
teacher, and must possess their confidence and regard. A 
man in such a position, and filling it well, has an opportu- 
nity for good that ordinarily does not fall to the lot of the 
teacher. 

Objections to the Supervision of Athletics. — There has 
been a diversity of opinion as to the advisability of the 
supervision of athletics, the general rule being to leave this 
matter in the charge of the pupils themselves. In too 
many cases the results of the plan have been unsatisfac- 
tory, and for widely different reasons. In schools where 
the regular athletic sports have been in favor, and have 
been supervised by teachers, the results have shown some- 
times that too much time has been taken from the regular 
work of the class room, and that the exercises themselves 
have been without the continuity and regularity that would 
have made them valuable as a means of recreation and 
growth. The tendency has been to the forming of athletic 
associations, whose members do all the work, while the 
remainder of the students applaud and boast of the excel- 
lence of their respective teams ; so that for thirty or forty 



206 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

men who do too much in the way of sport, there may be 
four or five hundred doing nothing. In cases where games 
with teams from other schools cannot be easily arranged, 
or where there are other important interests involved, the 
subject of athletics would be entirely forgotten. 

A certain Western college became famous for the number 
and excellent showing of its orators at the interstate con- 
tests, but such a thing as a football team was unknown in 
it; and its baseball team, extemporized in emergencies, 
could have been defeated easily by the team of any self- 
respecting academy. There was no interest in these sports, 
seemingly because there was no one to begin the movement 
and keep it up after it had begun. In this instance, the 
faculty of the institution were much to blame. It seemed 
to be a fixed idea with them that excellence in the athletic 
field must mean weakness in the class room ; that muscle 
and brain could not go together; that precious moments 
would be wasted somewhere. As a matter of fact, the time 
had been much better spent on the athletic grounds than in 
the ordinary ways in which the students employed it. This 
fallacy of the interference of the field and class room is now 
generally exploded. There will be some students who will 
not shine in the classes, but will be stars on the field. Eor 
one of this class, however, there will be hundreds who will 
become healthy, sound, strong, refreshed in body and quick- 
ened in mind, and who will preserve the proper balance 
between exercise and study. 

Recreations for Public Schools. — The principle is the 
same in the common school as in the college or academy. 
The boys and girls of the smallest school district have a 
right to be considered — even a right above that which can 
be urged in any higher institution. Theirs is the right 
of childhood to be passed happily, busily, healthfully, and 
to be supplied, not only with books, teachers, and well- 
appointed schoolrooms, but also with the inestimable privi- 
lege of well-ordered exercise and amusement. Country 



OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOR LARGER PUPILS 207 

schools should have at least an acre of ground for the use 
of the pupils. In the larger districts, simple gymnasium 
appliances can be supplied with very little expense or 
trouble. But in every school, whatever the limitations of 
the playground and of the facilities for playing games, the 
teacher should manifest an intelligent, active interest in 
the recreations of the pupils, encouraging them by oppor- 
tune suggestions, and by judicious cautions checking any 
harmful tendencies that may appear in them. 

Outdoor Sports. — Among the games, exercises, and sports, 
there are some of the semi-gymnastic character that have 
obtained a strong foothold in American schools, by reason 
of their forming a basis for intercollegiate and scholastic 
contests. While affording exercise and requiring in many 
cases great bodily skill as well as muscular activity, they 
are not sports in the most complete sense. To be proficient 
in them a course of training is necessary ; and this cannot 
be provided always to advantage. In many cases, however, 
the exercise attending them will be all that the pupil desires, 
and for this purpose moderate training only is necessary. In 
these, as in all other sports, the danger of over-exercise or 
of a strain of the muscles should be emphasized, and all 
possible means employed that will prevent it. The presence 
of the teacher is not only advisable, but necessary. The 
pupil should learn that development of any kind is the 
result of constant and systematic action, rather than of 
violence ; that he is running a great bodily risk in attempt- 
ing any exercise new to him with all the strength of his 
muscular power. Fortunately, these exercises are different 
from those of the gymnasium in this respect. Ordinary 
outdoor sports, when common care is exercised, are progres- 
sive, naturally accommodating themselves to the strength 
of the players. 

Old Football. — The old-fashioned game of football is 
played by dividing the players equally and marking lines at 
the end of the grounds parallel to the direction of play. 



208 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

The object of the game is to send the ball by kicking or 
striking with the hands over the opponents' line. No tack- 
ling, or running with the ball, should be allowed. The 
game is a very exciting one, and almost any number of 
players may engage in it. For purposes of exercise, it is 
better than the Rugby game. The game is described by 
a Greek writer of the second century. It was also played 
by the Norsemen and by the people of lower Germany in 
ancient days. 

Games with Soft Balls. — There are a number of games, 
some of them centuries old, that involve the hitting of one 
of the players with the ball. These games are very excit- 
ing and amusing, provided the ball is of the proper kind. 
A ball made of rags wound rather loosely is the best. 

Call ball is based on an old Roman game, and is probably 
much like the one played by Nausicaa, the daughter of King 
Alcinous, and her maidens, after they had spread their 
washing to dry on the rocks by the river side. 

The players form in a row and the ball is thrown against 
a wall ; at the same time, the one throwing it calls out the 
name of one of the other players. The player whose name 
is called must strike the ball back on the bound, calling 
out the name of some other player. If he misses the ball, 
the players scatter. He calls " Stand ! " as quickly as pos- 
sible, after missing the ball, and the rest of the players stop 
in their places. He then throws the ball at any one he 
chooses. If he hits him the game proceeds as before, the 
one hit throwing the ball against the wall. If the thrower 
misses the person thrown at, he places himself in a bent 
position against the wall, and every player throws at him. 

Haley Over. — The players choose sides, and take positions 
on different sides of a building. One of the boys throws 
the ball over the house, calling " Haley over ! " as he does 
so. If a player on the other side succeeds in catching the 
ball, he darts around the corner of the house and tries to 
hit some one of the opposing side. If one is hit, he then 



OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOR LARGER PUPILS 209 

belongs to the other side. There is no means of knowing 
whether the ball is caught or not, until the other side appears. 

Roll Ball. — A row of holes (large enough to contain the 
ball) is made, one for each player. The boy who has the 
last hole takes the ball, and rolls it in such a way that it 
will lodge in one of the holes. The boy who is stationed 
at that hole takes out the ball (while the rest scatter) and 
tries to hit one of them. If he succeeds, the boy who is hit 
places a stone in his hole. If a thrower misses, a stone is 
placed in his hole. When five stones are placed in one hole, 
that boy is out. 

Baseball. — The modern game of baseball is too well 
known to need any description. It originated perhaps in the 
game of "old cat," in which there were only two bases — 
the striker's and the pitcher's. After the ball was hit, the 
striker changed from one base to the other. If hit during 
the run, or if the ball was caught before it reached the 
ground, the player was out. The name was varied to " two 
old cat," according to the number of batters. In the old 
form of baseball, there were three bases besides the home 
base, and the number of players was not limited. After 
hitting the ball, the batter ran the bases. The ball was 
thrown at the runner. If he was hit, he was out. In some 
forms of the game the batter was out if the ball was caught 
before it struck the ground. Each player had to be put out 
separately. If there was only one runner, the ball was 
passed from the pitcher to the catcher, while the base run- 
ner tried to " steal " the bases. If hit with the ball, he was 
out ; if not, he was allowed to take one member of his side 
who had been put out before. In some cases a runner was 
considered out if the ball passed in front of him. 

Corner Ball. — An old game in Pennsylvania is " corner 
ball." It is played by eight boys, four stationing themselves 
on the corner of a square, four others in the center. The 
ball is passed from one to another of the players, and when 
not expected is thrown at the players in the center. If any 

SCH. EEC. & AMUS. — 14 



210 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

one is hit, he is out of the game. If one of the players in 
the center catches the ball, he throws it at one of the corners. 

Shinny in a Hole. — This game is so well known that a 
description of it may not seem necessary. It is very excit- 
ing, however, and is inserted for the benefit of a few who 
may never have played it. A number of holes, one less 
than the number of players, is made. Each player provides 
himself with a stick about three feet long, bent slightly (or 
having a knot) on the end. Each boy places the end of his 
stick in a hole, and the remaining player drives the ball, 
called the " pig," at one of the holes. Each player tries to 
strike the ball away as it approaches him. As soon as his 
stick is out of the hole, any player can appropriate it by 
putting his stick into it. The boy who is driving the "pig" 
tries to put his stick into any hole left unguarded. The one 
who is left out of the game must drive the " pig." 

In some parts of Pennsylvania this game is known as 
" old pig," or " blind pig." 

Shinny. — The name of this game is a corruption of the 
Scotch name shinty, from which it came. It is called 
" hockey " in England and in some parts of the United 
States, and " bandy " in Wales. It is played with a little 
wooden ball about as large as a tennis ball, and with bats 
that are curved or have a knob at the end. The number of 
players is not limited, but a good rule to follow is to organ- 
ize another game when the players become so numerous that 
they interfere with the amusement. 

Bounds should be marked out about one hundred yards 
long and fifty wide, the goals being indicated by little flags. 
The players choose sides, and determine by chance who is to 
strike the ball first. 

The ball is placed in play about one hundred yards from 
the strikers' goal. The object of each party is to drive the 
ball over the opponents' goal. 

Fives. — The game of fives is a very common and famous 
English game. A modified form of it may be seen at almost 



OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOB LARGER PUPILS 211 

any time among the youthful players of our cities. It is 
an interesting game if played entirely without rules, as I 
have usually seen it played. A wall, having a smooth piece 
of ground in front of it, is selected, and a line is drawn on 
the ground, one yard from the wall. A line is also drawn 
on the wall, one yard from the ground. The ball used is an 
elastic, soft, rubber ball, and is struck with the hand, so 
that it shall hit the wall above the line, and on the rebound 
strike the ground outside of the line. The ball is dropped 
to the ground before being struck to the wall. Only a small 
number of players can engage in the game at once. Four is 
a convenient number. They may be partners, being arranged 
from right to left in the order 1, 3, 2, 4, one and two, and 
three and four, being partners. If either of the players 
fails in hitting the ball or in striking it against the wall, or 
strikes it out of. bounds, he is out. 

Cricket. — The famous English game of cricket is so com- 
plicated that it will be impossible to attempt a description 
of it here. The game is played with eleven men, is much 
more interesting than baseball and not so dangerous or so 
rough as football. It is to be hoped that the game will 
become much more general in this country. If it once 
becomes well known, it will certainly be appreciated. A 
number of good manuals for the conduct of cricket matches 
can be obtained from any dealers in athletic goods and 
publications. 

Modern Football. — The modern game of football has be- 
come a question of strength, quick wits, and endurance. It 
demands bodily training and practice for steady nerves ; iron 
muscles, long breath, and thorough familiarity with all the 
rules of the game are required. Codes of signals for play 
are devised, and these have to be changed often to prevent 
opposing teams from becoming too familiar with them. 
The chief objections to the game are that it requires only 
a small number of men, and that the manner of play is 
almost certain to be rough. It is by no means necessary 



212 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



to omit the game on this account, but all roughness should 
be discouraged or forbidden, and as many different teams 
as possible should be organized. In preparation for match 
games, however, the ordinary usages and customs of the 
game will have to be followed, and it is only in the practice 
field that they may be somewhat remitted. 

There is no exercise 
or game that will test 
the powers of a player 
more completely than 
this. It is a mistake 
to confine all coaching 
and training to college 
teams ; for even more 
advantage will result if 
the careful work is be- 
gun in the secondary 
school. The game is 
played with eleven 
men on a side, classi- 
fied and arranged as 
the " rush line," a quar- 
ter back, two half backs, 
and a back, or goal 
keeper. Seven men 
usually form the rush 
line, and are known as 
the center rush, or snap 
back, the right and left guards, the right and left tackles, 
and the right and left end rushers. The grounds are 330 
feet long and 60 feet wide. At each end goal posts are 
placed 18|- feet apart and surmounted by a crossbar placed 
at 10 feet from the ground. Transverse lines five yards 
apart are usually marked on the field, so that the umpire 
can tell at once how much of an advance either side has 
made. The ball is placed in play by a " kick-off " from the 



Touch 
in 
Goal 


In Goal 
Goal 






18§ feet 
25 yard line 


o 
pi 
a 
O 1 


o 

e 

a 

o 

>"3 

a 

o 
c= 
B 

Pi 
25 yard line 


Goal line 









OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOR LARGER PUPILS 213 

center of the field. The opposing side must be at least ten 
yards behind the ball at the kick-off, and were the ball actu- 
ally kicked, it would probably land just where the opponents 
would most like to have it. For this reason the ball is just 
touched with the foot and then handed to some player near 
by, who runs with it towards the opponents' goal. 

He is protected by all the players of his own side, and 
the object of the opposing players is to "hold" or stop him. 
As soon as he ceases to make progress he calls " down," 
and the ball is placed on the ground for another scrimmage. 
The side having the ball must make a distance of five yards 
in three downs, lose twenty yards, or give up the ball. 
When the ball passes out of bounds, it must be brought 
back to the exact spot where it crossed the line before being 
placed in play. The game goes on in this way, until one 
side is near its . opponents' goal. The ball maybe carried 
across the goal line by continuing to advance in the same 
manner as before, or by a drop kick. In the former case, 
a kick may be attempted after the touchdown is made. 
The drop kick may fail, and, if so, all the advantage pre- 
viously gained will be lost. If either side is driven close 
to its own goal, and the opponents seem likely to score, a 
safety touchdown may be made by one of the players car- 
rying the ball across his own goal. This scores two points 
for the opponents, but allows the side making the touch- 
down to take the ball to the twenty-five yard line, and kick 
it out by a drop or place kick. In keeping score, a goal 
from a touchdown counts six points, a goal from the field 
five points, and a touchdown four points. The game as it 
is now played consists almost altogether of team work, 
and a great deal of the success is due to the captain or the 
coach. The captain must be clear-headed and quick-witted ; 
at home in any part of the game or of the field. He must 
have perfect control over his men, and be able to arouse 
their enthusiasm in trying positions. He must be confi- 
dent of himself and of his men. A great many systems 



214 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

of signals have been devised for use in the games. Cer- 
tain numbers or certain proper names are sometimes used. 
Placing the hand in certain positions on the body, or touch- 
ing the player according to some previously concerted plan, 
will give good results. There must be no mistaking these 
signals, however. They are intended to mystify one's op- 
ponents, and not to confuse one's own team. They must 
be practiced constantly, and should be as few in number 
and as simple as possible, without becoming intelligible to 
any one. There are a number of books 1 upon the subject 
of football that give full directions for players in different 
positions, the rules, and details of the game. 

Rounders. — Another excellent form of ball game is the 
English " rounders." In principle it is much the same as 
baseball, but it requires more players, and the rules are not 
so many or so invariable. The ground is marked out in the 
form of a regular pentagon, and the bases may be any con- 
venient distance apart, as twenty yards. The home base is 
within the angle of the pentagon ; the pitcher is placed at 
the center ; the catcher behind the home plate. The out- 
fielders should be well scattered so as to cover all parts of 
the field. There should be at least twelve on a side, and 
twenty or thirty will not be too many. The ball should be 
light and very elastic, and the bats much lighter than those 
used in baseball. The players bat in turn, and each player 
may refuse three balls, but must strike at the fourth. The 
rules for base running are the same as those for baseball ; 
the runner goes as far as he can. If he succeeds in making 
all the bases, the run is termed a " rounder." A player is out 

(1) If he fails to hit the ball. 

(2) If he tips it and it falls behind him. 

(3) If the ball is caught before it touches the ground, or 
on the first rebound. 

(4) If he is hit with the ball while running between the 

1 Walter Camp's American Football and A. A. Stagg's book on the 
same subject are among the best of these. 



OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOB LARGER, PUPILS 215 

bases. The pitcher may pretend to throw the ball, to 
induce the runner to leave his base. The innings may be 
continued until a whole side is put out, or may be ter- 
minated by any number of " outs " previously agreed upon. 
The batters must stand in the home circle when not batting 
or running bases, and if any one leaves the circle he may 
be hit with the ball and put out. If all of the players but 
one of a side are out, this one has three chances to make a 
" rounder/' after which all or part of his side may bat again. 

3d Base 2d Base 




Catcher 



If the last batter should be put out, leaving men on 
bases, the pitcher must run to the home circle and ground 
the ball, thereby " putting out " all of the base runners. 

The success of the game depends on the fielding. All 
points of the out field should be guarded, and the fielders 
should place themselves in such a position that they may get 
the ball quickly if a throw is made at a runner and he is 
missed. The game may be modified almost indefinitely. 
Girls find it splendid exercise. 



216 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Lawn Tennis. — The game of tennis is often regarded with 
some contempt by football and baseball players. It is some- 
times called a girl's game, and thought to be scarcely 
worth consideration by men or by athletes. All things con- 
sidered, it is perhaps a better general game than either foot- 
ball or baseball, for it requires just as much quickness, as 
much bodily and muscular skill, and constant though not 
violent action. 




78 feet 



It is a good game for the busy man who has only an hour 
or two to spend for exercise, but wants to employ that time 
in as lively a fashion as possible. 

The tennis court is 78 feet long and 36 feet wide. The 
net, 3^ feet high at the ends and 3 feet in the middle, is 
stretched across the center of the court, and supported at 
the proper height by an iron fork placed under it. In single 
games, the inside lines become the boundaries of the court. 
The ball is inflated rubber, generally covered with flannel, 
and not less than two and one half inches in diameter. 
Most players will find the fifteen-ounce racket to be suffi- 
ciently heavy, but that racket should be selected which will 



OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOR LARGER PUPILS 217 

meet the player's own requirements. All prominent dealers 
make first-class rackets, but shape, weight, balance, and the 
methods of each individual player will determine the one to 
be selected. 

The player, in serving, stands with one foot on or across 
the back line, the other behind it, and drives the ball over 
the net into the diagonally opposite court formed by the 
inside lines, the half-court line, and the service line. If the 
ball strike the ground outside of these lines, the service is a 
fault and the player is allowed another trial. The ball is 
received on the first rebound, and is struck back. After the 
first return, the ball may be hit on the first rebound, or while 
still in the air. The first service is from the right court ; 
after that, from the right and left alternately. 

The players serve in turn, the opposite sides serving alter- 
nately. A player must not serve a ball until his opponent 
is ready. When a ball hits into the net or goes outside the 
lines of the court, the point is counted against the player 
making the fault. If a server make two faults, the point 
goes to his opponents. A player must not touch the ball 
with his racket more than once, or hit the ball before it 
passes the net, or touch the net or any of its supports while 
the ball is in play. 

The first two strokes count 15 each ; the next, 10 each ; 
50 points being the game. If both sides have won three 
strokes each, the score is called deuce and two consecutive 
winning strokes are required to win the game. The first 
player who wins six games wins a set, unless each side has 
won five games, when the winning of two consecutive games 
shall decide the set. 

The common form of service is the overhand stroke, de- 
livered by throwing the ball in the air to almost the height 
of the center of the racket, and striking it from left to right, 
or striking it directly. The cut will diminish the speed of 
the ball, but will cause it to change direction before bound- 
ing. For the underhand serve, drop the ball, and when about 



218 SCHOOL BECEEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

twelve inches from the ground, cut at it from right to left. 
For direct service, hold the ball almost a foot away, and, 
with the arm in a horizontal position, strike for the top of 
the net. Do not make the mistake of attempting a too diffi- 
cult service. Begin with a slow service, if necessary, until 
you have learned to get the ball over the net, and to place 
it where you please ; then practice for speed. 

Grass courts, where the sod is rolled hard, and the grass 
kept short, are the best ; bat courts are made sometimes by 
leveling a piece of ground and covering with clay, or in 
some cases placing a top of Portland cement on a cinder 
bed. There should be a space of at least ten feet on the 
sides, and fifteen at the ends of the court, that is prepared 
in the same way as the court itself. There can be very 
little freedom in play if the player is cramped by the boun- 
daries or is obliged to watch the ground as well as the play. 
The players should endeavor to cover the court as com- 
pletely as possible. When one is serving, the other should 
be close to the net ; and near the line to prevent a ball's being 
placed on the off side. As soon as a player has served the 
ball, he should run toward the service line, so as to protect 
the court not occupied by his partner. One of the players 
(the server ordinarily) plays in the back courts, and the 
other near the net ; or both may play from somewhere near 
the service line. The latter place is perhaps advisable, as 
there is not so much danger of the player's interfering with 
the movements of his partner. The beginner should remem- 
ber that tennis is a game of skill, and that constant practice 
is the only thing that can make him an expert ; that the 
same stroke must be made over and over again; that he is 
called upon at every moment of the game to judge distances, 
places, and the effect of his own stroke. 

The exercise and pleasure of the game amply repay for 
the time spent in practice. 

Hare and Hounds. — One of the best games for boys is 
hare and hounds. Two boys are selected as "hares," 



OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOB LARGER PUPILS 219 

and are given a certain time or distance as a start. They 
carry with, them bags of paper, cut into fine pieces, and they 
scatter these to form the trail. They may double upon the 
track, or use any other device to baffle their pursuers, but 
the trail must be distinct. It is a good plan to fix a time 
during which the hare shall run, before starting for "home." 
For large boys, two hours is a good limit ; for smaller boys, 
from one to one and one half hours. 

The "hounds" should choose a leader and, in running, 
keep in single file, from three to seven yards apart. A 
" whipper-in," one of the larger and stronger boys, should 
be the rear guard. The leader generally carries a horn, 
which he blows when baffled or off the scent. In case two 
"hares" are chosen, they should be required to keep to- 
gether. If different " scents," or trails, are allowed, there is 
so much time lost in finding the true one that the game often 
loses half its interest. A two-mile run is long enough for 
beginners. The distance may be increased to five or seven 
miles for boys fifteen or sixteen years of age, and practiced 
runners think nothing of twice the distance. 

Follow My Leader. — Follow my leader can be made very 
funny if some quick, adventurous boy be selected for the 
leader. The boy chosen places himself at the head of the 
line and commences the game by running, climbing, or 
jumping over any obstacle that may be in his way. The 
followers are obliged to do just what the leader has done. 
If any one of them fails, he takes his place behind the rest. 
The game may be continued until all have failed once, or as 
long as the leader chooses. 

Prisoners' Base. — Prisoners' base is a famous old game, 
probably too well known to require a place here. There 
may be a few persons, however, who have never played the 
game, and it is inserted for their benefit. 

There should be about seven or eight players on each side, 
although the number is not definitely fixed. Two bases are 
marked out, one at each end of the grounds, which must be 



220 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

about two hundred feet long. The bases are made large 
enough to hold all the players of each side. Two " prisons," 
about the same size, are marked at the ends of the ground, 
the base of one side being opposite the prison of the other. 

The game is begun by the " stag," who runs from his base 
to the center of the field and challenging the opposing side 
to capture him. One of his opponents is usually sent out, 
then another from the first party, followed by one of the 
second, and so on until each side sends out all the men it 
can spare. A player is allowed to catch any other player 
who has previously left the base, but he cannot catch any 
one of his opponents who has left the base after he has left. 
If a player has captured a prisoner, he cannot be touched 
until after he has reached his base. Every "prisoner" 
must remain in " prison " until rescued by the touch of some 
one of his own party. The game is decided when all of a 
side have been captured, or by any player finding his oppo- 
nents' base unguarded and taking possession of it. 

Golf. — It is probable that the Romans played a game 
something like golf. For years it has been the national 
game of Scotland, and has been played also in England and 
in the United States, where within the last two years it 
has become very popular. Several holes, four inches in 
diameter, are cut in the ground, and the turf around is 
smoothed slightly, to help the player in "holing" the 
ball. The holes are arranged ordinarily in a circle, and 
from eighty to five hundred yards apart. Each player (or 
each " side," where there are partners) has a hard gutta- 
percha ball, about 2\ inches in diameter, which he drives 
with a "club" from one hole to another. The object of 
the game is to drive the ball into each of the holes in 
order, with the fewest possible strokes. Bushes, sandy 
spots, and sloping grounds are considered rather as advan- 
tages than otherwise. The player is provided with several 
kinds of clubs, to use when the ball gets into an awkward 
position. The player or side that " holes " the ball with the 



OUTDOOR AMUSEMENTS FOR LARGER PUPILS 221 

fewest strokes A\dns the hole, and the player or side that 
wins the greatest number of holes wins the game. 

Golf is a game that certainly deserves to be popular. It 
furnishes plenty of exercise for the muscles, combined with 
walking, and is a moderate form of amusement, that cannot 
injure any one even of those who are not much accustomed 
to exercise. 

Let it be said, in conclusion, that the teacher should feel 
an interest in the sports of the pupils that is as great as 
his interest in their studies ; for play is an essential of 
healthy development. Every honest, sound, and hearty 
game is just so much added to the reserve force of health 
for the future ; is just so much added to the light-hearted- 
ness of the present. It does something, at least, to defer 
the time when the care of business and the work of life 
may take away all opportunity, if not all prospect, of pleas- 
ure in the sports of one's youth. 

This bodily exercise is so healthy, so invigorating, in a 
system of life where so much is unhealthy and weakening, 
that it is worth almost any effort to keep alive and build up 
the interest and love of our American boys for the field 
games and sports that will help, at least, to make them 
strong, active, and earnest men. 



CHAPTER IX 
SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 

The Study of English. — A consideration of school com- 
positions brings up the broad subject of the teaching of 
English in primary and secondary schools, a subject upon 
which there has been a vast amount of discussion, and wide 
differences of opinion have been manifested. The questions 
involved in this, when judged from the standpoint of results, 
seem far from solution at the present time. However, the 
Report of the Committee of Ten in relation to the study of 
English in the lower grades and in the high school affords a 
basis upon which all teachers can cooperate. 

The primary object of school work in English composition 
is, first, to develop in the pupil the habit of logical and con- 
nected thought ; next, to teach him to express this thought 
in pure, plain, and idiomatic English; and, finally, to 
acquaint him with the differences of style, developing a dis- 
criminating appreciation of literature in its various forms. 

English Grammar. — For a very long time it was thought 
almost universally that formal grammar was the true basis 
of all teaching of English. This extreme led to the oppo- 
site, giving place to the idea that no formal grammar at all 
is necessary. Naturally, the best results in education are 
found to come from a combination of the two systems which 
resulted from these opposed theories. 

There is no reason why children, when they have learned 
to read fluently, should not be taught the elements of gram- 
mar — the names of the parts of speech, with the value of 

222 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 223 

each in the sentences, and the different forms of sentences. 
" Not earlier than the thirteenth year of the pupil's age," 
says the Report of the Committee of Ten, "the study of 
formal grammar, with drill in the fundamental analysis, 
may be taken up. It should not be pursued as a separate 
study longer than is necessary to familiarize the pupils with 
the main principles. Probably a single year (not more than 
three hours a week) will be sufficient. Subsequently, al- 
though grammatical analysis (as an instrument of interpre- 
tation and criticism) may properly accompany reading and 
the study of composition, it should not be regarded as a 
separate study in the curriculum." 

Original Written Compositions. — Original composition can 
hardly be begun too soon. " Not later than the first term 
of the third-- school year, children should begin to compose 
in writing." Before this term, and from the time they are 
able to read and write, they should copy and write, from 
dictation and from memory, brief and simple compositions 
of poetry or prose, as an exercise in penmanship, spelling, 
capitalization, and punctuation. At first the exercises may 
be those of reproduction of short stories told by the teacher 
or read by the pupil, such reproduction being almost entirely 
oral ; later on, it should be largely written. In these exer- 
cises the pupils should not be allowed to use words whose 
meaning they do not fully comprehend. Written exercises 
from dictation may be used frequently, with good results. 
As soon as practicable, the pupil should begin to arrange 
his own ideas and to give them expression on paper. If 
sufficient attention is given to the correction of such exer- 
cises, and if corrections are hinted at rather than made 
directly, the pupil will soon learn to discover and correct 
his own mistakes ; to make an intelligent choice between 
different forms of expression, and to give a pleasing rather 
than an abrupt turn to his sentences. 

Excellent subjects for school compositions may be found 
in a pupil's own experiences. The work should be a per- 



224 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

fectly natural, honest expression of his thoughts. The 
teacher should not encourage or allow attempts at " fine " 
writing. 

The study of English should not be confined to exercises 
of recitation in that subject, but should be introduced indi- 
rectly into every form of school work. Mathematics and 
the natural sciences afford opportunity for the use of accu- 
rate forms of expression. History and the translations from 
various languages give scope to much more varied forms of 
language. Indeed, there are few more profitable exercises 
than translation, if the thought be clearly understood and 
expressed in pure, idiomatic English. The so-called literal 
translation should not be allowed, except for grammatical 
purposes; for generally, it is a collection of words strung 
together artificially, presenting no connected thoughts or 
definite order, and bearing little resemblance either to the 
original or the language into which it has been changed. 

The series of reading books in common use should be 
discarded not later than the seventh or eighth year of the 
pupil's course, the remaining time being given to the study 
of prose and of narrative poetry, complete selections being 
generally used when obtainable. The selections may be 
made the basis of frequent compositions. 

Incidentally the pupil may be taught much of the his- 
tory of the English-speaking peoples, the sources and the 
modifications of their language. Erom first to last, much 
attention should be given to the vocabulary, to the study 
of synonyms, to the differences that often exist between 
words which commonly are regarded as exact synonyms, 
and to the choice of the right word to express a given 
idea. 

Exercises in the expression of thought should be constant, 
from the time when the child enters the schoolroom until 
he leaves it. Not a day should pass without written or oral 
work of some kind ; no opportunity for permitting the child 
to express his thoughts upon subjects of interest should be 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 225 

passed by. He should be encouraged to talk and write 
freely, under the direction of the teacher, upon the topics 
connected with his studies or his experiences outside of 
school. He should be made to feel that it is an honor and 
an accomplishment to be able to talk well or to write well, 
and that failure to do so is in some sense a disgrace; that 
it is not impossible for any one who has the time, patience, 
and industry, to acquire facility of expression. It may be 
necessary here to enforce again the idea that quality is 
above quantity, and emphasize clearness and brevity, and 
the evil of repetition. 

The time allowed for exercises in composition may be 
from ten to fifteen minutes, according to the subject in 
hand and the pupil's knowledge of it. When the themes 
are longer and more studied, as in the case of older pupils, 
it is well to review the papers separately, with the pupils, 
pointing out mistakes in the use of words and punctuation, 
and in the use of capitals ; calling attention to sentences 
that are labored or involved, and suggesting better arrange- 
ment or choice of words. 

I would have the teacher bear in mind the fact that work 
in composition must be gradual. The reason why the bare 
mention of a composition is sometimes enough to produce 
signs of rebellion in an ordinarily obedient school, is because 
the pupils do not know how to go about it. It is as if they 
were ordered to build a triple expansion engine, or to prove 
the truth of Newton's demonstration of the theory of gravi- 
tation. 

They have few ideas upon any given subject, or, per- 
haps, their ability to express these ideas is limited. When 
their best work is done, it appears crude and incomplete ; 
and apparently, no amount of endeavor will better it. 
There is a feeling of helplessness, of utter weakness, that 
comes from lack of practice or lack of interest. 

The Use of Books of Reference. — The length of a compo- 
sition is immaterial ; but as far as possible it should cover 
SCH. rec. & amus. — 15 



226 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

the subject assigned, and should be arranged logically in an 
order consistent with the development of the subject. The 
pupil should be credited upon the excellence of the thought 
and its arrangement, rather than upon the length of his 
composition. 

The teacher will meet and will be compelled to combat a 
constant tendency to copy — a tendency which, sooner or 
later, if permitted, will make the expression of the pupil's 
own thought next to impossible. In many cases the copying 
is intentional and voluntary, the pupil finding it too much 
trouble to write the composition from his own knowledge. 
More frequently, perhaps, he is not willing to undertake the 
labor necessary to prepare him for an intelligent handling 
of the subject. He has recourse to a cyclopedia, a biogra- 
phy, or a collection of essays, and his work is a poor, unin- 
telligent arrangement of borrowed sentences or borrowed 
thoughts; while the only possible benefit arising from it 
lies in the facts which he may have learned by this system 
of copying. 

In many cases the fault is partly or wholly the teacher's. 
Subjects for compositions are assigned which are too diffi- 
cult for the pupil to handle without assistance, and for this 
he is directed to various books of reference; or subjects 
are assigned whose treatment is purely descriptive or his- 
torical, making the temptation to copy almost irresistible 
for pupils without much originality. 

Where the proper limitations of the use of reference books 
are not taught, the pupil is allowed to infer that he may use 
as much of the book as he finds suitable for his purpose ; 
and frequently a composition made up of such selections, 
when showing care and discrimination in choice and arrange- 
ment, is more highly prized than original work — though 
the latter may represent far more thought, and may be of 
much greater value to the pupil. 

There are various exercises which may precede and intro- 
duce the work of purely original composition, and which 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 227 

are so interesting in their nature that the pupils will regard 
them rather as recreations than as tasks. Among these are 
exercises in making abstracts, outlines, amplifications, and 
paraphrases, the more simple of which should engage the 
attention of the younger pupils especially. Some illustra- 
tions of these forms of composition are given here, as sug- 
gestions to the teacher. 

The Abstract. — An abstract is an epitome or summary — 
a condensed form of the thoughts of another. It should 
contain in substance all the principal thoughts and events 
of the original, but should be expressed in shorter form, 
omitting many details. To begin with, a very short and 
pointed story in verse may be read to the class — and per- 
haps read twice — and the pupils can then prepare their 
abstract from memory. After a few short poems have been 
used, a longer selection may be taken. 

The familiar and true story of John Gilpin, as told in 
Cowper's poem, which has amused generations of children 
in all the English-speaking world, affords an excellent exer- 
cise in making abstracts. While told at considerable length, 
it may be summarized in a brief and simple narration, as 
follows : 

John Gilpin was a well-known merchant of London, and a captain 
of the militia. When he had been married twenty years, he agreed 
that all his family should celebrate his wedding day by going to 
Edmonton, a few miles away, and taking dinner with him at a hotel 
called "The Bell." His wife, with the three children, her sister, and 
her niece, went in a carriage. Mr. Gilpin was to ride behind, upon a 
horse, which he had borrowed from his friend, a calender (or finisher 
of cloth) by trade, who lived ten miles from Edmonton. He was de- 
layed in starting, by waiting on a customer at his store. He set out 
at length, wearing his long cloak, and a leather belt, to which he 
fastened two jugs of wine, which his wife had forgotten to take. He 
was not used to horseback riding, and could not manage the horse. 
Eearing he should fall, when it began to gallop, he seized hold of its 
mane. This caused it to run all the faster. Mr. Gilpin's hat and wig 
blew off, and then his cloak also, for the loop which tied it broke. 
The jugs were thrown violently upward in the gallop, and broke, the 



228 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

wine falling upon the horse and causing it to run all the faster. The 
gatemen along the road opened the gates for Mr. Gilpin to pass, think- 
ing he was running a race. From the hotel porch Mrs. Gilpin saw 
him going by with great speed, and called to him, but he could not 
stop. The furious ride continued until the house of the calender was 
reached. That gentleman brought out his own hat and wig for Mr. 
Gilpin, and encouraged him to ride back to Edmonton. Just then a 
donkey brayed, and the frightened horse started back to London with 
its rider. The calender's hat and wig blew off at once, for they were 
too large. Mrs. Gilpin, in alarm, had sent a boy on a horse, after 
her husband. The boy met him coming back, and, turning around, 
tried to overtake him. This chase led people to think that Mr. Gilpin 
was a robber, and several horsemen began to pursue him with loud 
cries. The gatemen all thought, as before, that Mr. Gilpin was riding 
a race, and threw the gates open before him. The chase never 
ceased until the poor man was carried by the runaway horse to the 
store in London from which he first started. Mr. Gilpin's unhappy 
wedding day was the subject of much good-humored sport to his 
acquaintances. 

Poems Suitable for Abstracts. — To prepare an abstract 
of a selection of some length., as the foregoing, the pupils 
should read very carefully a whole story, separating it into 
its essential parts, and should understand clearly the rela- 
tions between these parts. They should then express in 
their own words, and as simply and concisely as possible, 
the thought of each topic of the story. The teacher should 
not allow the abstracts to be too long, and should see that 
the parts of the story are emphasized in the order of their 
importance. Pupils should avoid using the language of the 
author, except in cases where no other choice will answer 
so well. 

In a manner similar to that of the preceding, extracts 
may be made from the shorter poems of Longfellow, Whittier, 
Tennyson, Byron, Lowell, Saxe, Scott, and others. Among 
the poems most suitable for this purpose are the following : 

The Two Church Builders John Godfrey Saxe. 

The Good Bog of Breda John Godfrey Saxe. 

The Blind Men and the Elephant John Godfrey Saxe. 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 229 

The Lord of Burleigh Alfred Tennyson. 

The Sleeping Palace, from the Day Dream Alfred Tennyson. 

TJie Lady of Shalott Alfred Tennyson. 

TJie Eve of St. Agnes John Keats. 

The Exiles John Greenleaf Whittier. 

The Witch's Daughter John Greenleaf Whittier. 

Cobbler Keezar's Vision John Greenleaf Whittier. 

King Solomon and the Ants John Greenleaf Whittier. 

The Norman Horseshoe Sir Walter Scott. 

The Village Blacksmith Henry W. Longfellow. 

The Slave's Dream Henry W. Longfellow. 

Walter von der Vogelweid Henry W. Longfellow. 

Hie Emperor's Bird's Nest Henry W. Longfellow. 

Paul Bevere's Bide Henry W. Longfellow. 

On Lending a Punch Bowl Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Lady Yeardley's Guest Margaret J. Preston. 

The Vagabonds . . ' John T. Trowbridge. 

The Outline. — An outline differs from an abstract in that 
it includes merely the headings of the different parts of the 
story, poem, or book. In making an outline from a given 
selection, it is necessary to read the selection carefully and 
to determine the principal divisions made by the author in 
the treatment of his subject. These will form the headings 
for the different topics of the outline. There will be, 
usually, sub-heads of parts of these principal divisions. 
Whether the pupil shall take note of these or not, will 
depend upon the selection chosen, its length, and the 
number of elements that enter into it, as well as upon the 
ability of the pupil to comprehend them. Let the pupil 
become accustomed to the formation of the outline from the 
selections that are given to him, and then form outlines for 
use in his own compositions. In many cases a given selec- 
tion will divide itself naturally into three parts — the in- 
troduction, the story, and the conclusion. Where a story 
is told in separate parts, an outline may be made for each 
part. 

As an example of the foregoing, here is an outline of the 
introduction to the first canto of Scott's Lady of the Lake : 



230 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



The Introduction. 



The Story. 



The Island Lodge. 



Invocation to the minstrel's harp. 
Its former power. 
Its present silence. 
Purpose of the poem. 

The scene. 

The starting of the stag. 

The pursuit by the hunters. 

The king leaves his companions behind. 

The stag escapes. 

The king's horse dies of exhaustion. 

The king summons help. 

He is taken to the island. 

His coming foretold. 

Description of the lodge. 
The fall of the sword. 
The song. 
The dream. 



Such an outline, of course, is a suitable exercise for only 
the more advanced classes of pupils, who have acquired 
some acquaintance with literature in its higher forms. 

Amplification and Paraphrase. — Amplification and Para- 
phrase are important, as they lead directly to original com- 
position. Amplification is the expansion of the thought of 
an author, while abstract is its abridgment. ■ More thought 
and care are required for its preparation, because it implies 
the addition of facts or incidents that are not really in the 
story and these must be in harmony with the rest of the 
selection. Before beginning the work of amplification, 
the story should be thoroughly mastered in all its details, 
the principal points noted and their proper order and rela- 
tive importance determined. To this arrangement should 
be added the incidents that would naturally occur in the 
further development of a part or parts. This may be done 
by noticing what has been omitted. When all the incidents 
that would be likely to occur have been supplied, the pupil 
forms the whole into a connected story, avoiding as far as 
possible the use of the words of the author. At first, simple 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 231 

sentences may be used for exercises in amplification ; later 
on, paragraphs ; and, finally, poems or other connected nar- 
rations. The work must proceed much more slowly than 
the making of outlines or of abstracts, and the assistance 
of the teacher should be given regularly until the pupils 
have acquired the habit of fairly accurate analysis. 

For an example of amplification, the following passage 
from Longfellow's Courtship of Miles Standish has been 
selected. The amplified exercise appended was made by a 
pupil in class, after a fair amount of practice, and no assist- 
ance was rendered by the teacher in this case : 

In the old colony days, in Plymouth, the land of the Pilgrims, 
To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive dwelling, 
Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan leather, 
Strode, with a martial air, Miles Standish, the Puritan Captain. 
Buried in thought he seemed, with his hands behind him, and pausing 
Ever and anon, to'behold his glittering weapons of warfare, 
Hanging in shining array along the walls of the chamber, — 
Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his trusty sword of Damascus, 
Curved at the point and inscribed with its mystical Arabic sentence, 
While underneath in a corner were fowling piece, musket, and match- 
lock. 
Short of stature he was, but strongly built and athletic, 
Broad in the shoulders, deep chested, with muscles and sinews of iron. 
Brown as a nut was his face, but his russet beard was already 
Plaked with patches of snow, as hedges sometimes in November. 
Near him was seated John Alden, his friend and household com- 
panion, 
Writing with diligent speed, at a table of pine by the window ; 
Fair-haired, azure-eyed, with delicate Saxon complexion, 
Having the dew of his youth and the beauty thereof, as the captives 
Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, "Not Angles but angels ! " 
Youngest of all was he of the men who came in the Mayflower. 

(Amplification of the Fokegoing.) 

It was early in the spring in the old colony of Plymouth. The 
trees were beginning to bud ; the birds, home from their winter pil- 
grimage, were making preparations for their annual house building, 
and all nature seemed glad that the winter was over. The Puritans 



232 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

of the infant colony were not sorry to see the return of spring, after 
the sad events of the terrible winter through which they had just 
passed. Famine, cold, hardship of all sorts had decreased their num- 
ber by more than one half ; but the faith which had sustained them in 
England and Holland supported them now in their sufferings, and 
spring found them all looking forward with hope to the new life of 
liberty that was before them. Among the Pilgrims was Miles Standish, 
a weather-beaten veteran of the Continental wars. He was a short, 
stout man, bronzed by his many campaigns, quick to anger, and 
equally quick to repentance. Time had left no marks upon his frame, 
but his beard was streaked with gray. As he walked up and down in 
the room of his little cabin, his mind was busy with the past. All his 
life came before him, like the shifting scenes of a panorama — his boy- 
hood, with its attachments and friendships and the scenes of his early 
days ; the stirring life of the soldier, the long marches and campaigns 
without fire or food, and the desperately contested battles. Then he 
reviewed the tedious voyage of the Mayflower, and the hardships of 
the winter — a particularly sad one for him, for in it his wife, Rosa 
Standish, had died. His life, deprived of her sympathy and comfort, 
was doubly cheerless and depressing. Around him were the imple- 
ments of his profession — his sword, musket, and armor, polished and 
ready for use, as they had been at all times during his career as a 
soldier. His friend, John Alden, was near him. A greater contrast 
could not be imagined than was presented by these two men. Alden 
was young, slender, and handsome, a true type of the beauty of young 
English manhood. He was the youngest man of the colony, and on 
account of his gentle ways and the superior excellence of his manly 
qualities, was a general favorite. The captain loved him as he might 
have loved an only son. Alden had been present in the hour of his 
trial, and was now his support and comfort. As the young man was 
busy writing the letters that were to go by the Mayflower to anxious 
friends in England, his mind was busily engaged in forming its plans 
for the future. Life to him seemed far more beautiful than to the 
captain, for often in the winter he had met Priscilla at the bedside 
of the sick and the dying, and as they had endeavored to relieve the 
common suffering, their sympathy and friendship had given place to 
love — so that to-day his letters seemed to echo the name of Priscilla, 
and constantly to sing her praises. 

Suitable Subjects for Amplification. — Short poems often 
afford the best exercises for amplification ; and many exam- 
ples may be taken from Longfellow, Whittier, Saxe, and 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 233 

other poets. Saxe is especially valuable, because his works 
furnish a large number of humorous selections. While 
children have an excellent sense and appreciation of humor, 
they often find much difficulty in expressing it. 

Paraphrase. — A paraphrase is useful in assisting the pupil 
to get the meaning of the author. It is a translation of the 
thoughts of an author from his language into our own. 
The value of paraphrase is often a negative one, but it wil] 
sometimes serve to emphasize the choice of right words and 
the value of clearness and proper arrangement. Select a sen- 
tence of Macaulay, Burke, or Webster, and have the pupils 
paraphrase it as a means of calling attention to the strength 
of the sentence itself. Poems may be paraphrased to illus- 
trate the difference between the language of poetry and 
that of prose. In such exercises the pupils should not use 
the poetic forms. 

Letter Writing. — With such preliminary work as the 
foregoing should be associated letter writing. At the pres- 
ent time this is said to be one of the lost arts. Letter 
writing for its own sake has fallen into disuse, in a very 
large measure. The principal object of correspondence in 
this day of the phonograph and the typewriter seems to be 
to condense information into the smallest space and with 
the least possible expenditure of time ; and, generally speak- 
ing, letters are written now for information, rather than for 
pleasure, and oftentimes with a bluntness, directness, and 
scant courtesy which cause them to read more like legal 
notices or billposters than like communications between 
people living in a cultured age. 

The preponderance of letter writing is in the nature of 
business correspondence ; and the principal requisites for 
the communications of the commercial world are, of course, 
clearness and directness, with a sufficient expression of facts 
and circumstances and of their relation to each other. 

The personal letter is of an entirely different sort. It is 
rather a conversation committed to paper, designed to inter- 



234 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

est or amuse the writer's friends. Details of personal expe- 
rience, unimportant matters — anything, in short, which 
might form the subject of a conversation, goes to make up 
the matter of such a communication. 

Letter Writing in an Earlier Age. — In a former day the 
art of elegant letter writing was an accomplishment, which 
was pursued with a diligence and care that are surprising 
to us. Ponderous volumes of epistles were written and 
studied for the sole purpose of inculcating elegance of 
diction and propriety of subject-matter in personal corre- 
spondence between friends. The formality of the old-time 
correspondence between members of the same family is 
amusing to the present age. The studied expressions of 
sympathy in affliction seem cold and formal, and the display 
of sentiment mawkish. Many old-time models of letter 
writing are now obsolete, and would be undesirable in their 
influence upon the taste and style of the rising generation. 

The Origin of the English Novel. — To the mania for letter 
writing was due the origin of the English novel. Samuel 
Richardson (1689-1761), who is accounted first in the order 
of English novelists, was a writer of letters designed as 
models for persons of culture. His published letters were 
supposititious, and were assumed to represent almost all 
possible occasions which might call out a written communi- 
cation from a friend. The idea occurred to him that the 
letters would be more interesting if they were correlated, 
so that, instead of having to invent a separate fiction to 
account for each communication, he could arrange for an 
entire series of letters, taken together, to form a story in 
themselves. This idea was put into execution ; and as suc- 
cessive publications of Richardson's letters were issued from 
the press, the public interest was greatly excited in antici- 
pation of the outcome. The once absorbing story of Pamela, 
which was written in this singular manner, is to us at the 
present day an exceedingly tiresome mass of composition, 
and is but little read. 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 235 

Models of Letter Writing. — It must not be assumed, how- 
ever, that there are no old models of epistolary correspond- 
ence which will prove of service at the present time. There 
are a number of books of letters written by masters of style 
in various languages, which contain valuable suggestions to 
the letter writer of to-day. Among the most famous letter 
writers of English literature were the poet Cowper, Lady 
Mary Wortley Montagu, Mrs. Chapone, and William Make- 
peace Thackeray. The letters of Cowper are still read with 
interest, and are valuable for their simplicity and natural- 
ness, as well as for their frankness and tenderness. Thack- 
eray's letters abound in graphic descriptions and humorous 
incidents. The letters of Benjamin Franklin, James Russell 
Lowell, John Lothrop Motley, and other American authors 
are well worth reading. Of the ancient classic models, the 
letters of Cicero are greatly admired. These are often read 
as exercises in the translation of Latin prose. 

A Remarkable Book of Letters. — One of the most mar- 
velous of recent books is Andrew Lang's Letters to Dead 
Authors. In a number of these " letters " the author of the 
volume addresses the dead author in the style of the latter, 
mimicking every feature of his style — every idiosyncrasy 
and personal trait — with a fidelity that is irresistibly humor- 
ous. For a study of style, the student of literature will find 
the volume helpful as well as amusing, since it will aid him 
in noting the peculiarities of various authors. The letters 
to Byron and Pope are especially available for this purpose. 

Cautions Relative to Letter Writing. — In the exercises of 
supposititious correspondence by pupils, care should be taken 
to discriminate clearly between business communications, 
letters to chance acquaintances, and communications to fa- 
miliar and dear friends, and members of the same family. 
Injudicious letter writing by young persons is very often a 
cause of much mortification and pain. The proprieties of 
personal correspondence should be carefully inculcated and 
always insisted upon. 



236 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

It is not unlikely that the demands of the commercial 
world at the present time may result in a return to some- 
thing of the old-time interest in letter writing — though in 
such a case the models to be followed will be very different 
from those of the older day. Certainly a teacher of the 
present time will fail grossly in his duty if he shall wholly 
neglect so important an exercise as letter writing by pupils. 

Subjects for Supposititious Business Correspondence. — 
Among the topics for business correspondence which may be 
written with profit by pupils in the schools are the following : 

Supposititious answers to genuine advertisements in the daily papers 
for clerks, business correspondents, agents, etc. 

Supposititious orders for merchandise of various descriptions, ad- 
dressed to real dealers, and containing specific instructions as to ship- 
ment or delivery, mode of payment, etc. 

Supposititious requests for catalogues, information concerning the 
price and quality of goods, etc., addressed to merchants. 

Supposititious requests relating to salary, addressed to business 
employers, and giving reasons for the same. 

Supposititious requests for favors or indulgences, such as absence 
from the office or store, relief from certain forms of work, etc., 
addressed to business employers, and stating the reasons for the 
requests, together with any offers that may be made in consideration 
of their being granted. 

Supposititious acknowledgments of merchandise received in accord- 
ance with previous orders. 

Supposititious letters of resignation or withdrawal from business 
engagements, stating reasons therefor, and providing for all the 
equities in the case. 

Supposititious offers of goods or lands for sale, stating facts in refer- 
ence to the same, and setting forth the terms offered and the conditions 
required. 

The number of subjects for such correspondence may be 
increased indefinitely, though of course it cannot be expected 
that they will provide for every contingency of business 
letter writing. The most that exercises of this character can 
do is to inculcate a few general principles to be followed. 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 237 

Subjects for Supposititious Letters of Friendship. — The field 
of friendly correspondence is inexhaustible. If precision, 
directness, and brevity are essentials in business correspond- 
ence, the claims of propriety (varying with all the degrees 
of intimacy and with all the varied relations which one 
individual sustains to another in the social world) and of 
courtesy are not less exacting. Generally the school is sup- 
posed to have more to do with business correspondence than 
with the correspondence of friendship ; yet time may be 
profitably spent in exercises of the latter class. Among the 
subjects suitable for supposititious personal correspondence 
are the following : 

Invitations to various entertainments given at home. 

Acknowledgments of invitations. 

Apologies for acts of carelessness or neglect. 

The acceptance of apologies. 

A letter from a country boy to a city friend, describing the amuse- 
ments or employment of the former. 

A letter from a city boy to a country friend, describing the amuse- 
ments or employment of the former. 

A letter descriptive of a journey. 

A letter descriptive of some building. 

A letter descriptive of a village. 

A letter to accompany a present. 
. A letter in acknowledgment of a present. 

A letter of sympathy and cheer to a friend who is ill. 

A letter of consolation and encouragement to one who has lost a 
business situation. 

A letter to a friend about to enter college. 

A letter from a boy at college to friends at home. 

A letter requesting advice as to a choice of books for reading. 

A letter requesting the loan of a book or other article, stating how 
it is to be sent, and when it will be returned. 

Composition Proper. — The subjects for compositions 
should be assigned some time before the finished work 
is required, so that the pupils may have opportunity to 
think about the matter and consult different references 



238 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

they may need. The outline should be commenced very 
soon after the subject is assigned. One topic will suggest 
another, and often a pupil will have more material than he 
can use. In such cases, if the outline shows signs of care- 
ful work and each topic represents a portion of the pupil's 
real knowledge, it is sometimes well to divide the subject, 
making two or more separate exercises. The pupil will 
then feel that the work has been completed, that it repre- 
sents fully his knowledge, and is in itself a reward com- 
mensurate with the time and labor expended. Notes should 
be made upon all of the topics of the outline, the matter 
for these notes being taken from various authorities. Then 
the outline and notes should be carefully studied, until the, 
subject takes a connected form in the pupil's mind. This 
study should be continued until complete familiarity with 
the subject is assured. By this time, all dread of the com- 
position will have been removed, and the pupil should write 
as naturally as he would talk. Furthermore, he will have 
acquired an interest in the subject, and will be likely to 
remember what he has studied and written. 

Biographical Sketches. — For many reasons, the historical 
or biographical sketch is well suited to beginners in the 
work of composition. There is a definite beginning and 
ending, while the order of the narrative is fixed by the 
character of the subject. Associated with the principal 
story are many others of great interest and value, so that 
the work of composition may be extended, if thought best, 
to any degree of completeness. The biographical sketch 
leads directly to criticism, from which it is in many cases 
inseparable. Opportunities for abstract and amplification 
occur frequently, as certain phases of the subject interest 
or attract the pupil. The theme is an ideal means of fixing 
the subject of history upon the minds of the pupils. No 
matter how thoroughly history may be studied, it will be 
clearly better comprehended and adjusted if it be made the 
subject for a composition. 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 239 

A Sketch of Charles Dickens. — Following are the essen- 
tial facts in the life of the great English novelist. They 
are snch that any pupil having access to a library can pro- 
cure without difficulty. If suitable reference books upon 
the subject are not at hand, the teacher can generally sup- 
ply such material as this : 

Period of His Life. — Charles Dickens was born at 
Landport, England, Feb. 7, 1812, and died at Gadshill, 
June 9, 1870. 

His Family. — His father was a clerk in the navy pay 
office; was transferred to Chatham in 1816, where he re- 
sided until 1821. The family removed to London, where 
misfortune befell them, and the father, John Dickens, was 
imprisoned for debt, 1822. 

His Boyhood. — The family life at Chatham was the 
happiest period of Dickens' life. Here he attended a 
school kept by William Giles, and proved to be an apt, 
intelligent pupil. In his boyhood he was a great reader. 
He said of himself that he was "a reader from a mere 
baby, an actor always." Among the books read were the 
works of Fielding, Smollett, and Cervantes, and the Arabian 
Nights. 

With the failing fortunes of the family, came hard 
times for the boy. He was placed in Jonathan Warren's 
blacking warehouse at Hungerford Stairs, where his princi- 
pal work was to paste labels on the blacking boxes. When 
the family prospects grew brighter, he was again placed at 
school, this time at the Wellington House Academy. Some 
of the features of the school are described in the story 
of Salem House. A club was formed among the boys to 
circulate the stories written by him while in school, and he 
was the center of an admiring group, such as surrounded 
young Walter Scott in the yard of the Edinburgh High 
School. After about three years of this kind of life, it 
became necessary for him to earn his own living, and he 
became a clerk to a solicitor at Gray's Inn. 



240 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Early Manhood. — When about seventeen years of age, 
Dickens determined to become a Parliamentary reporter, a 
profession that his father had then adopted. His determi- 
nation and strength of will now became fully apparent. He 
set himself resolutely at work to learn shorthand ; and feel- 
ing the need of general reading, became a constant attendant 
at the British Museum. In 1828 he became a reporter in 
Doctors' Commons, fell in love with Dora, whom he did not 
marry, and afterwards almost ridiculed as Flora in Little 
Dorrit. In 1831 he became a reporter for Parliament, 
and in 1834 he was engaged as a member of the staff of the 
Morning Chronicle. His experiences were much the same 
as those of the reporter of to-day. He often transcribed 
his notes upon papers resting on the palm of his hand, by 
the light of a dark lantern, while the post chaise went as fast 
as four horses could pull it. He was upset (as he himself 
tells us) in every variety of vehicle known to the country. 

His Life as an Author. — From 1833 to 1835 a monthly 
magazine published ten articles, some of which afterward 
reappeared in Sketches by Boz. These sketches were first 
printed in the Evening Chronicle, and when published in 
book form, Dickens received one hundred and fifty pounds 
for the copyright. In 1836 he was fairly on the road to 
fame and fortune. The Pickwick Papers had become the 
talk of England. In February, 1837, Bentley's Magazine 
contained the opening chapters of Oliver Twist. The first 
number of Nicholas Nickleby appeared in 1835, soon to be 
followed by the Old Curiosity Shop and Bamaby Budge. In 
1842 Dickens made his first visit to America. Dombey and 
Son was begun in 1846, Bleak House in 1847, and David 
Copperjield in 1849. Bleak House began to appear in 1852, 
followed by Hard Times in 1854, and by Little Dorrit in 
1855. In 1857 Dickens purchased the house on Gadshill, 
which he had so often regarded with awe as a child, and 
where in later life he was loved and revered by the country 
people who surrounded him. 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 241 

Later Years op His Life. — Dickens' public readings 
were in constant demand, and the income from them was 
very large ; but the extra work was one of the causes of the 
failure of his health. In 1859 All the Year Round was 
started, in which the Tale of Two Cities and Great Expecta- 
tions appeared. A fearful railway accident, in which Dickens 
was not personally hurt, gave an intense shock to his ner- 
vous system. In 1866 he revisited America, lecturing and 
reading in many places, and receiving an enthusiastic wel- 
come. He returned to England in May, 1867. The Mystery 
of Edwin Drood was begun in 1870. On the 30th of May, 
Dickens returned to Gadshill, and resumed the work on 
his book. He worked both morning and afternoon of the 
8th of June, completing the sixth installment. Coming into 
the house after his work, his condition appeared so alarm- 
ing that he was urged to lie down. " Yes, on the ground," 
was the reply, and he fell to the floor. He died at ten 
minutes past six, p.m., on the 9th of June, 1870. 

The foregoing outline is intended to give simply the 
framework for a biographical sketch of Dickens. The 
lives of few British authors are more interesting than 
his. All the experiences of life in its varied phases 
were familiar to him. His sympathy was so great that 
nothing ever failed to reach or to touch him. His works 
present many topics which are suitable subjects for school 
compositions. Among these are the boyhood of David Cop- 
perfield, the schools and schoolmasters of Dickens' works, 
reforms suggested by Dickens' works, etc. Among the criti- 
cal authorities for the study of Dickens are the following : 

Forster's Life of Dickens. 

Ward's Life of Dickens (English Men of Letters). 

Field's Yesterdays with Authors. 

Atlantic Monthly, vol. 38, p. 474. 

Contemporary Review, vol. 10, p. 203. 

Living Age, vol. 100, p. 707. 

SCH. REC. & AMUS. — 16 



242 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

London Quarterly Review, vol. 35, p. 265. 

Fortnightly Review, vol. 17, p. 141. 

Preiser's Magazine, vol. 21, p. 381. 

Anecdote Biographies of Thackeray and Dickens. 

Subjects for Biographical Sketches. — Of American authors, 
the following will be found excellent subjects for essays : 

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). 

Washington Irving (1783-1859). 

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851). 

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). 

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864). 

James Bussell Lowell (1819-1891). 

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894). 

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892). 

John Lothrop Motley (1814-1877). 

George Bancroft (1800-1891). 

Francis Parkman (1823-1893). 

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). 

Walt Whitman (1819-1892). 

Henry D. Thoreau (1817-1862). 

Ealph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow .... (1807-1882). 

Of British authors, the following will be suitable subjects : 

William Shakespeare (1564-1616). 

John Milton (1608-1674). 

Francis Bacon (1561-1626). 

Joseph Addison (1672-1719). 

Alexander Pope (1688-1744). 

Samnel Johnson (1709-1784). 

EobertBnrns (1759-1796). 

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774). 

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). 

William Wordsworth (1770-1850). 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). 

Lord Byron (1788-1824). 

Thomas Moore (1780-1852). 

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892). 

"George Eliot" (1819-1880). 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 243 

Of American statesmen, the various Presidents of the 
United States are familiar and suitable topics for biographi- 
cal sketches. Among other noted Americans whose lives 
offer suitable themes for school essays, are the following : 

Daniel Webster (1782-1852). 

Henry Clay (1777-1852). 

John C. Calhoun (1782-1850). 

Charles Sumner (1811-1874). 

Horace Mann (1796-1859). 

John Marshall (1755-1835). 

Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861). 

James G. Blaine (1830-1893). 

Robert Fulton (1765-1815). 

Eli Whitney (1765-1825). 

Sam Houston (1793-1863). 

Winfield Scott '. (1786-1866). 

Among British statesmen, the following may be mentioned 
in this connection : 

John Hampden . :. (1594-1643) 

William Pitt (Lord Chatham) .... (1708-1778) 

Lord John Russell (1792-1878) 

William Wilberforce (1759-1833) 

Richard Cobden (1804-1865) 

John Bright . . (1811-1889) 

Lord Salisbury (1830- ) 

William Ewart Gladstone ■. (1809- ) 

Among other noted men of Great Britain, the following 
may be taken as subjects for compositions : 

James Watt ........... (1736-1819). 

George Stephenson (1781-1848). 

Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-1792). 

"The Man of Ross" (see Pope's Third 

Epistle, Moral Essays) (1664-1754). 

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). 

John Howard (1726-1790). 

The Historical Essay. — This form of composition is in 
many ways more difficult to direct than the simple biogra- 



244 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

phy, since it involves the consideration of many persons, 
the entire setting of the story, and the description of the 
people engaged, their motives, their conduct, and the pres- 
ent or remote results of their actions. The method of treat- 
ment is the same. The subject is to be studied until the 
relative importance of the events is determined, their proper 
relations are ascertained, and their chronology is fixed. It 
is common to arrange events in the order of time, but the 
order of importance will sometimes give a clearer idea of 
the subject. The treatment of any historical event falls 
naturally into three parts — the causes, the event itself, and 
its results. Very often the causes and results are of more 
importance than the event. Let us take, for example, the 
conflict known in America as the French and Indian war. 
An outline for an essay on the subject will include the fol- 
lowing topics : 



[External, The Seven Years' war. 
The Causes I Immediate, The struggle of England and France for 
[ the New "World. 

•vh C7 *• (The location and the relative strength of the oppos- 

L fie &ltUCttlO?l ~\ p , ,t , j 

I mg forces at the outset. 



The Events 



The war in the North 



The war in the West 



Niagara. 
Ticonderoga. 
- Crown Point. 
Kingston. 
Quebec. 

f Braddock's expedition. 
\ The second expedition to 
Fort Duquesne. 



Much material for brief essays on these topics will be 
found in the school text-books of history. The pupil should 
be encouraged, however, to make a broader study of his sub- 
ject and to make use, not only of history, but also of geog- 
raphy, poetry, biography, and legend, in order to render his 
portrayal more complete. 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 245 

It is desirable for pupils to undertake something in the 
way of original investigation, preparing essays upon themes 
less hackneyed. Often interesting topics will be found 
which have not been developed to any considerable extent 
by writers of history, and which present a field which is 
wholly or largely new. Let the pupil write the history of 
his county, his township, or his town or city. If these sub- 
jects have been previously developed by other writers, let 
him take for his subject the military history of his county 
or State. He can ascertain from official sources what part, if 
any, was taken by his State in the Mexican war and the 
war of the Secession ; the number of the regiments, and the 
manner in which they were designated ; the total number of 
soldiers furnished, how they were recruited, and the manner 
in which they were equipped ; notable events in which they 
participated, etc. If the history, civil and military, of the 
State, county, and town or city, has been written until the sub- 
ject has become threadbare, there is still scope for original 
historical work in recording the annals of the neighborhood. 

At the time of the Centennial Exposition, President 
Grant issued a proclamation in which he requested that the 
local history of the various civil divisions be carefully pre- 
pared and published by local writers, and filed among the 
archives of the counties, for future use. This very excel- 
lent suggestion was acted upon in all parts of the country, 
and probably much of the work was performed by teachers 
and pupils of the schools. It would be well if more atten- 
tion were paid at all times to our local history. 

Eeturning to the more common subjects of history, there 
is room for a considerable exercise of originality in the 
grouping and comparison of events and individuals, and the 
tracing out of historical causes and effects. Thus in a sin- 
gle essay may be presented the three great compromises of 
Henry Clay ; the four Vice Presidents who succeeded to the 
presidency of the United States ; the Federal and Confed- 
erate Constitutions, compared ; the successive additions to 



246 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

the original territory of the United States ; the origin, rise, 
and final overthrow of slavery in our nation ; the emancipa- 
tors of modern history — President Guerrero of Mexico, 
Alexander II of Russia, Dom Pedro II of Brazil, and Presi- 
dent Lincoln of the United States ; the triumph of the prin- 
ciple of national union over the influences for disunion in 
the United States, Italy, and Germany, etc. 

For an illustration of the tracing of the relation of his- 
torical events, one to another, the student of history "will 
note how rapidly the antislavery sentiment in the United 
States developed from the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska 
act ; how this act was a result of the compromise of 1850, 
which left open to slavery territory which had been pre- 
viously free ; and how the argument for the preservation of 
freedom already possessed by the territory acquired from 
Mexico had its origin in the fact that President Guerrero 
had made the territory free. The emancipation thus begun 
in Mexico offered the strongest argument against the system 
of slavery in the Southwest ; and this argument grew in 
strength and power until it found expression in the principle 
of the Wilmot proviso, which principle became the leading 
policy of the Republican party, and led to the triumph of 
that political organization. 

Descriptive Composition. — Success in description depends 
upon the ability to observe and to describe the features 
which separate and distinguish one subject from another of 
the same kind. A study of objects that are similar or are 
intimately related, with a view to finding out their differ- 
ences, will be found valuable in preliminary work. Pas- 
sages may be chosen from Ruskin, Dickens, Macaulay, 
Scott, or from other masters of descriptive prose. These 
may be explained and discussed in class, the teacher show- 
ing how the different elements of character or components 
of a picture may be variously emphasized to produce dif- 
ferent effects. The arrangement of sketches will depend 
upon the effect desired, and the readers for whom they are 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 



hi 



intended. The Bay of Naples, for instance, has afforded 
material for various kinds of description. One writer por- 
trays the natural beauty of the bay and the surrounding 
country, taken together ; another, the view from the land 
or from the sea; another pictures the bay in the light of 
history, making note of leading events that have occurred 
there. The essential of successful descriptive writing is 
thorough acquaintance with the subject, obtained, if pos- 
sible, by personal contact. Pupils should fully understand 
this, and should write chiefly about things with which they 
are familiar — such as places which they frequently visit, 
or their own homes and surroundings. 

Essays upon subjects relating to geography have been 
noted in a previous chapter. Papers relating to local geog- 
raphy may be included under the head of descriptive com- 
position. Natural features of the vicinity of the school, 
such as bodies of water, islands, waterfalls, hills, etc., will 
supply excellent subjects for school compositions. 

The following are some topics for descriptive themes : 



Wild flowers. 

A country mill. 

A country store. 

A village street. 

A crowded corner in a city. 

Sunset in the country. 

The woods in autumn. 

The woods in spring. 

A lake. 

An island. 

A cave. 

A rock. 

A hill. 

A brickyard. 

An old church. 

A cemetery. 

An old-fashioned fireplace. 

A well sweep. 

A curbed well. 



A garret. 

An old chest or trunk, and its 

contents. 
An old spoon, dish, or other 

family heirloom. 
The old-time daguerreotype. 
An old engraving. 
An old-fashioned clock. 
An old sword or cane. 
Street cries and incidents. 
Waiting for a train. 
Household employments. 
A ford in a river. 
A rainy Saturday. 
A wayside inn. 
A country bridge. 
Experiences in a street car. 
The history of a scrapbook. 
Peculiar fashions in dress. 



248 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



"Winter evenings. 

My first fish. 

Dolls and playthings. 

An old almanac. 

A scrap bag and its contents. 

A carpenter's chest of tools. 

A blacksmith shop and its 

furnishings. 
A cooper shop. 



The postoffice. 

The school building. 

The courthouse. 

The jail. 

A wheelbarrow. 

A compass. 

A day in a park. 

A picnic. 

A skating party. 



Compositions in Fiction. — Nearly all the various forms of 
composition may properly make a part of fiction. True 
descriptions of places and things, and facts of history, are 
often woven together in imaginative compositions. Fiction 
is a history or description of the ideal. Its purpose may be 
to amuse, to instruct, to illustrate the facts of history, or to 
make us intimate with all the phases of a certain form of 
life or character through which we may draw our own con- 
clusions. Sometimes the plot or outline of the story is con- 
structed first, with great elaboration of detail ; again, certain 
characters meet and act upon each other according to their 
natures, and thus the plot grows with the development of 
the story. 

The test of romance writing is not that it be true, but 
that it be possible and consistent. This principle should 
be the guiding one in the formation of the plot. After the 
plot is constructed, the situation or setting of the story 
should be determined — for upon this its successful devel- 
opment will depend. When all these questions are settled, 
the action of the story may begin. The writer should show 
the traits of the characters by their action and by their con- 
versation, rather than by narrative. The story should go 
forward constantly, gradually rising in interest to its climax, 
and then should stop. 

For beginners, the subject should be simple and well 
known. The plot should not contain too many incidents, or 
any feature that is clearly impossible. 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 249 

Here are some subjects for simple fiction: 

How John lost his situation. 

Mary's patchwork quilt. 

Disobedience punished. 

How Charles went to college. 

Minnie's savings bank. 

A wreck at sea. 

A pocketbook found. 

How Tommy caught a burglar. 

A tiger hunt. 

What was found when the mill pond was drained. 

How Frank helped his father. 

A monkey's tricks. 

My first trip to sea. 

How James was saved from drowning. 

The story of a lost key. 

A wonderful dream. 

Honesty rewarded. 

A legend of a'good little boy. 

The following miscellaneous subjects for compositions 
may be found available for essays by the more advanced 
pupils : 

The uses of steam and electricity. 

The influence of poetry. 

Ancient and modern warfare. 

Horatius at the bridge. 

Imagination in science. 

The wit and humor of Lamb, Sheridan, and Smith. 

Is oratory declining ? 

Famous emperors of Germany. 

The habit of travel. 

The art of printing. 

The Puritan Sabbath. 

Ancient and modern modes of travel. 

Advertisements. 

Moral and physical courage. 

My favorite books. 

Civil service reform. 

The humble origin of great men. 

Free libraries. 



250 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Peculiarities of English spelling. 

The schools of our grandfathers. 

Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy. 

"Every mill man's apparel fits your thief." 

" Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows." 

' ' Cowards die many times before their deaths : 

The valiant never taste of death but once." 

" The breach of custom is breach of all." 

" The evil that men do lives after them : 

The good is oft interred with their bones." 

The legends of King Arthur. 

The court of Charlemagne. 

A deserted village. 

The Eoman Forum. 

The boyhood of great men. 

An English gentleman of the old school. 

The games of old England. 

The subjects mentioned in this chapter have been sug- 
gested as examples rather than with the idea of presenting 
anything like an exhaustive list of good subjects for compo- 
sition. Each teacher is the best judge of what is proper 
for his class. In many cases the subjects will be found to 
require more time than the pupil has at his command, and 
more than average experience and ability. Such subjects 
should not be chosen. It is much better to have a good, 
well- written theme upon a trivial subject than shallow, 
unsatisfactory treatment of a topic however profound. 

The Cultivation of the Taste. — But little has been said 
of another purpose of English work — a purpose that must 
not be forgotten or even momentarily lost from sight — the 
cultivation of a taste for literature and literary appreciation. 
This taste and the power of expression often go hand in 
hand. A pupil will rarely be found who, while able to 
appreciate what is best in literature and to criticise with 
discrimination, is yet unable to express himself clearly and 
intelligently. The pupil should read with a definite idea 
in view ; with an idea of making himself master of so much 
of the literature of his own tongue and country as may be 



SCHOOL COMPOSITIONS 251 

accessible during his school days. The love of reading, 
once acquired and cidtivated, will not leave him, but will 
brighten many an hour of his future life. A selection of 
books for reading should be a part of the course for every 
school year, and should be made out for four, six, or eight 
years, so that the books may be carefully graded. The 
materials available for such an arrangement are good, and 
are improving every year. The leading publishers have 
now in their lists many volumes of selected English clas- 
sics, newly edited for the special use of teachers and 
pupils ; and more are constantly added. It is only by some 
such plan as the foregoing that the love of literature can be ac- 
quired, and that the true history of literature can be learned. 
For literature is not a thing of names and dates, but is alive 
with the full, rich blood of a nation in its veins. It is the 
mouthpiece of the priest, the prophet, the orator, and the 
sage ; a means of culture without which we may, indeed, 
be rich and prosperoiis, and think ourselves happy, and yet 
without which we will not be content. It is a means of gen- 
eral advancement in thought and ideas, and hence in life. 



CHAPTER X 
SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 

The Old-time School Exhibition. — In a clever sketch of old 
seminary days, Mary Gay Humphreys has depicted "Pro- 
fessor Smith " as a type of the seminary principal. To the 
last, the old "professor" is proud of his school entertain- 
ments, to which he adverts in his reminiscences. 

" Why, sir," he exclaims, " my exhibitions were the events 
of the year. Ette, here, and all the girls used to come and 
dress the church with cedars and colored paper wreaths. 
Every candlestick in the town was ours for the asking ; and 
we had all the girls' finery we wanted. They were only too 
proud to lend it. And as for the people, every hitching post 
had two or three horses tied to it. All the country people 
came, and the First Presbyterian church would be filled 
cram jam, and the rest of the world would look in at the 
windows. Ette [calling to his wife], what would Mr. 
Higgins have thought if he could have heard Horace 
Morton declaim Pollok's description of hell: 

Wide was the place, and deep as wide, 
And perilous as deep ; 

or Smith Kephart, in a long, black cloak and tartan cap and 
feather, give LocliieVs Warning f Ah, that was grand ! And 
there was Angus Liggett, in my niece Antoinette's balzarine 
dress, and with his hands chained, reciting Hie Maniac until 
there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Exhibitions ! There's 
nothing like them nowadays." 

252 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 253 

The old school exhibition, in which all grades were blended 
and participated, is largely a thing of the past. In the 
modern graded school the grades are separated ; their public 
exercises, which occur generally in their own grade rooms, 
are illustrative of the school work, and are appropriate 
to the respective grades. The old-time exhibition was a 
something apart from the work of the school — to which 
it bore little or no relation. Generally it was held in a 
church or public hall. It was always a great event for the 
entertainment of the community in which the school was 
situated. As for the school itself, its sole object was sup- 
posed to be the hearing of prepared recitations. Unfortu- 
nately, this idea yet obtains in some parts of the country, 
and seems destined to a still longer life. 

Even under the old system, the " spelling bee " and the 
literary society flourished, and questions of statecraft and 
criticism were settled in debate, while the school exhibition 
was a crowning glory. However crude these institutions may 
have been, they at least showed an appreciation of the fact 
that practice is the principal factor of perfection, and of the 
further fact that education has its social as well as its schol- 
arly side. The principle involved is a vital one ; and instead 
of' being lost from sight in the changed conditions now prev- 
alent in education, it should be constantly recognized and 
cultivated. 

School Life and Sentiment. — The social life of a school is 
a strong, healthy influence, which will contribute more and 
more to the education that cannot be reduced to books and 
recitations. It is rather a residt than an accessory of the 
school — an effect which is produced by many causes. 

It has always seemed to me that not enough stress has 
been laid upon school life in our public school management 
and direction. A boy in England goes to one of the half 
dozen great grammar schools, and finds himself surrounded 
by the traditions and examples of centuries. One school 
has been famous for football, another for cricket. In this 



254 SCHOOL BECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

seat some chancellor once sat; here a great novelist told 
stories to his fellows ; on the playground, a famous general 
won his first battles. The spirit of the former classes and 
former scholars pervades the school, or the influence of some 
great teacher rests, like a blessing and benediction, upon the 
class room and the playground. 

We are almost entirely excluded from these local tradi- 
tions and influences by the nature of our schools and by 
their want of age ; but there are many things that might be 
done here at present to promote a similar feeling of local 
character and unity. The school is not a mere auxiliary 
force in civilization. It is one of the greatest, most promi- 
nent agents at work in the shaping of our national growth. 
Why, then, should it be confined to a dreary, dull routine, 
lacking form and vitality, unity and strength ? Why should 
it comprise so many apparently antagonistic ideas, when all 
might be unity and harmony ? It is difficult for the indi- 
vidual teachers to determine and direct the policy of a 
school. Changes of teachers are made so frequently that 
generally no one teacher has the time to affect a school per- 
manently with his own individuality. A settled system or 
policy is rarely found, and more rarely carried out with any 
uniformity. A change of school board often means an 
entire change in policy and management. 

Under these conditions it is almost impossible to preserve 
and foster the esprit de corps that would make the school 
a unit. It is incontestable, however, that such a spirit must 
exist in order to attain the greatest success with any body 
of individuals, either children or adults ; while it is equally 
true that what the school does as a school, not- as individual 
pupils or as teacher and pupils, will tend to produce and 
increase this feeling. 

Commemorative Exercises of the School. — For these reasons 
it is advisable to give as much time as can be spared to special 
exercises and celebrations of various kinds. These may be 
planned in such a way that they will interfere but little with 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 255 

the regular work of the school, by assigning different parts 
of the exercises to different divisions of the pupils. The 
work will perhaps fall most heavily on the teacher, and on 
this account it should be systematized and divided as much 
as possible. All departments of work should receive such 
attention as may emphasize, in turn, their value as a means 
of profitable recreation. 

Pericles, in his famous funeral oration, says : " For the 
whole earth is a sepulcher of famous men. Not only are 
they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their 
own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an un- 
written memorial of them, graven not on stone, but in the 
hearts of men." Not only that the great men of our nation 
may live in the hearts of the present generation, but that 
their influence, shall' widen and deepen as it passes from us 
to our children, it is fitting that we allow no convenient 
occasion to escape, in which we may refer to their lives and 
words or profit by their examples. 

" In the schools," says Robert M. King, " the celebration 
of certain days may involve no real loss to the school work, 
but only a pleasing change in its form. An alternation of 
different forms of labor is always restful, and may be very 
profitable. Often the school celebration affords an oppor- 
tunity for the particular form of training which the pupil 
most needs. The exercises of the celebration or observance 
may be of various length, sometimes taking the place of a 
single recitation, and at other times lasting through several 
class periods." 

In King's School Interests and Duties, to which this book 
is a companion volume, the subject of school celebrations 
and observances is presented at some length, and suggestions 
are made relative to the celebration of the birthdays of 
American authors and statesmen, and the observance, as 
" flag days," of dates associated with great and memorable 
events. In the same volume is presented an interesting 
and very profitable observance of Arbor day by schools of 



256 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

both the city and the country. Unlike the heterogeneous 
exercises of the former school exhibition, these celebrations 
and observances are strictly pertinent and auxiliary to the 
regular work of the school, and, taken altogether, are so 
frequent as to form an integral part of the school life. 
Their principal purpose is not the entertainment of the 
public, but the cultivation of the pupils. Such adaptations 
of the school programme to special occasions give character 
to schools, and are in accordance with the best thought of 
the present day in education. They add immeasurably to 
the pupil's range of information, while quickening the per- 
ceptions and developing the sentiments of patriotism and 
of love for all that is best in our national life. 

Exercises for Friday Afternoons. — Besides the celebra- 
tions of authors' birthdays and of days notable in Amer- 
ican history, exercises of a purely literary and oratorical 
character are of sufficient importance to be held, generally, 
once in a week. Friday afternoon is an appropriate time ; 
for then the regular work seems most to lag and the interest 
to be dulled. There need be little fear of the encroachment 
of Friday afternoon exercises upon the time rightfully be- 
longing to other work. The encroachment, if any there be, 
is generally from the other side. The selections to be spoken 
or read on Friday afternoons by pupils of the lower grades 
need not be long. It is far better for a pupil to learn a 
single paragraph or sentence and speak it well, than to 
commit to memory an entire poem or speech, with little or 
no conception of its true expression. The teacher may not 
have the time or opportunity to perfect each individual 
pupil in a separate and extended recitation of prose or 
poetry ; but it will require but little time to inculcate in 
each the proper rendering of a paragraph or two. Some- 
times the roll call on Friday afternoons may be dispensed 
with, the pupils choosing, from a basket or box, cards con- 
taining numbers, and then rising at their seats, in turn, as 
their respective numbers are reached, and reciting some 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 257 

suitable selection. This plan sometimes conduces to ease 
of manner and to attention. The pupil is to note for him- 
self his place in the order of the recitations, rising to speak 
when his number is reached. Other plans may be followed, 
and it is desirable that there be variety in both the matter 
and the manner of these exercises. 

Besides these exercises of and for the pupils of the 
school, a programme more extended and diversified may be 
prepared every two or three months, to which the public 
may be invited. The open " reception day " will add greatly 
to the interest of the pupils and to the effectiveness of the 
exercises. As in the case of everything else that is done in 
school work, the performance must be well done. The pro- 
gramme must, be attractive and interesting. No one should 
ever go away from a meeting of this kind without a feeling 
of something gained for himself, or of pride in the work 
and success of the pupils. The exercises should be suited 
to the grades of the pupils. The work of selection and 
arrangement should be commenced early, so that every part 
may be thoroughly studied and comprehended before the 
time of reception day. 

General Exhibitions of the School. — In addition to these 
attractive features of school life, there are still occasions for 
school exhibitions of a more general character, and having 
less immediate connection with the school work in history, 
literature, and science. Often these are oratorical or dra- 
matic or musical or spectacular, or all these combined. In the 
larger institutions of learning they are generally conducted by 
societies of students, capable of devising and managing such 
entertainments independently. In the smaller schools of 
villages and of country districts they are under the direction 
of the teacher, and include the pupils of various grades, re- 
calling the best features of old seminary exhibitions, but with 
the advantage of improved training discernible throughout. 

Elocution as a Factor in Public Exercises. — In Bardeen's 
clever story of Roderick Hume, the young schoolmaster is 

SCH. REC. & AMUS. — 17 



258 SCHOOL BECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

questioned as to his ability to teach elocution. He an- 
swers : 

"I can teach that it is a humbug; at least, as usually 
understood and practiced." 

Far from being a humbug, elocution should be rationally 
and successfully taught in its essential principles in every 
school. It should be taught without affectation, and with 
perfect naturalness. It is a mistake of many teachers of 
elocution that they make of it a distinct study, instead of 
inculcating it at all times ; they ignore and neglect its prac- 
tical application to the general reading and speaking in 
school recitations. If the teacher be careless and slovenly 
in his vocalization, he cannot expect his pupils to observe 
the principles of elocution. If he says " pensle " for pencil, 
"Lat'n" for Latin, "mounh'n" for mountain, "e-vle" for 
evil, " wuz " for was, etc., his pupils, unless they have excep- 
tional advantages of home training, will be apt to fall into 
the same errors. 

Another common fault of teachers of elocution is that 
they attempt too much. They sometimes select some exceed- 
ingly difficult composition for the display of the elocution- 
ary powers of their pupils. Poe's Raven, and Bells, and 
Hamlet's Soliloquy are often chosen for the training of begin- 
ners, who would better be giving the true expression to the 
old dialogue of the First Reader : 

" Ned, can you hop ? " 

" Yes, I can hop. Can you hop, Tom? " 

It will be generally conceded that the basis of true elocu- 
tion is a thorough understanding of the subject, and a per- 
fect naturalness of manner. Let a person feel what he is 
about to say, and there is little doubt that he will say it 
effectively. Effective speaking is not rant, as many pro- 
fessional elocutionists, by their recitations, might lead us to 
infer; neither is it an awkward stiffness of manner and of 
speech which comes of a poor understanding of the subject 
or of too great self-consciousness. Every one who remem- 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 259 

bers the Hamlet of Edwin Booth, or who has seen the Joan 
of Arc of Sara Bernhardt, will understand what is meant 
by thorough appreciation of the subject, by complete mas- 
tery of the thought and feeling, and, consequently, of the 
speech of the character which the speaker is for the time 
assuming. The essential of intonation and gesture is truth 
to nature ; but intonation and gesture are merely incidental 
to the development of the thought. Animated speech always 
produces many and varied inflections and changes of tone, 
and finds its expression in gesture also; but these are 
secondary, and, in the original character, spontaneous. The 
person reciting will be successful in proportion as he recog- 
nizes this fact and makes the thought and feeling the source 
of the variations in expression. 

How to study a Selection. — In studying a selection for 
the first time, the pupil should read it over very slowly and 
very carefully, trying to find out the full meaning and force 
of each word, and entering as completely as possible into 
the spirit of the author. Then it should be read aloud, still 
very slowly, the pupil endeavoring to bring out all the 
meaning of the selection, and repeating the reading until 
he fully understands the ideas that the author intended to 
convey. When this has been done, the appropriate gestures 
and intonations may be added, and questions of articulation, 
pronunciation, rhetorical pauses, and emphasis settled. The 
practice should be continued until the piece is thoroughly 
mastered. 

The acting of Charles Dickens in the chapters he read 
from The Mystery of Edwin Drood, in all probability, has 
never been surpassed on the English stage; and no elocu- 
tionist can express the humor of Mark Twain or the pathos 
of James Whitcomb Riley, as they themselves portray it. 
The characters are the personal creations of the author ; 
and he enters fully into their sentiments and feelings, for 
they are a part of his own life and thought. So the person 
who would actually and accurately represent the thoughts, 



260 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

words, and actions of another must make them a part of 
himself. The study of elocution should by no means be 
neglected, neither should its value be underestimated ; but 
it is not possible for every one to obtain instruction in this 
subject from specialists, and teachers must look to some 
other means to supply the deficiency. 

The ability to express properly and adequately the thoughts 
of others is within the reach of every one who will endeavor 
with patience and industry to find out what the author 
means, and, afterward, to render it with the same feeling 
that he would have were he the author. 

Short and simple exercises in vocal rendering are much 
better adapted than long poems or speeches to the needs of 
young pupils, and of all who have not learned the elements 
of true elocution. 

Character reading is often well rendered by children. 
Illustrative scraps of conversation from the characters of 
Dickens 1 will be found highly entertaining and profitable 
for the purpose. 

Recitations. — The recitation, or " reading " (independ- 
ently of the book), is one of the most popular forms of liter- 
ary entertainment. Sometimes the reading may be "in 
character," the reader wearing a costume appropriate to the 
subject. Where there is a monologue, or soliloquy, this 
gives a highly dramatic effect to the selection. Literature 
is filled with poetry and prose suited to purposes of school 
recitations. Ordinarily simple descriptive poems are best 
suited to young pupils. Selections portraying a degree of 
passion require careful training for their proper presen- 
tation. Such are valuable as tests of the pupil's power 
of expression. 

Where pupils display a natural aptitude for elocution 
and are trained in it without affectation, the more difficult 

1 The Dickens Dictionary contains brief descriptions of the characters 
which have made the name of Charles Dickens immortal. It presents, 
also, many of their most noted and characteristic sayings. 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 261 

renderings may be given with propriety. Poe's Raven, 
with its strong, subjectis r e passion and its romantic effects 
of scenic description, has been mentioned; also his Bells, 
which admits of a singular variety of intonation, descriptive 
of the "tintinnabulation," " ringing," "tolling," "rolling," 
"throbbing," "sobbing," etc., of bells, and illustrative also of 
the emotions which these sounds awaken in the human heart. 

Jean Ingelow's Brides of Enderby, another poem, offers 
scope for elocutionary effects in the calling of the cows, and 
in the quaint description of the tragedy of the high tide in 
ancient (British) Boston. Lover's Shamus O'Brien, and 
Boyesen's Brier-Rose have retained their popularity as elo- 
cutionary compositions, but are rather long for ordinary 
purposes. Hamlet's Soliloquy is a famous test of skill in ren- 
dition, and there are various other soliloquies in the works of 
Shakespeare, Sheridan, and other dramatists, which will an- 
swer a similar purpose. Dryden's Alexander's Feast, which 
may be recited with an accompaniment of suitable instru- 
mental music, is a marvel of poetic power and inspiration. 
Ossian's Carric-Thura may be recited as a monologue, accom- 
panied at times with the harp in the hands of the reciter. 

Tennyson's Dream of Fair Women may be rendered with 
an accompaniment of tableaux, representing the personages 
described. Locksley Hall, by the same author, is the expres- 
sion of a young man's passion, and has been an inspiration 
to a generation of British and American readers. Locksley 
Hall Sixty Years After expresses the altered views and 
changed feelings of a very aged man, as he sees with dis- 
appointment the tendencies of the age. The latter poem 
is not popular in America. The two are companion pieces, 
suitable for extended recitations in character, but too long 
for ordinary purposes of school entertainments. 

Mrs. Browning's Cry of the Children and Cotvpe? J s Grave 
are poems of deep feeling. Hood's Song of the Shirt is 
similar in character to the former of these. Longfellow's 
Morituri Salutamus, the voice of an old man speaking to a 



262 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

rising generation, is in strong contrast to the despondency of 
Locksley Hall Sixty Years After. 

T. Buchanan Read's poem of Sheridan's Hide, and Rob- 
ert Browning's Bide from Ghent to Aix, are less difficult 
than most of the foregoing, but are fine tests of elocution- 
ary powers. Trowbridge's Vagabonds, Whittier's Barbara 
Frietchie, Tennyson's May Queen, Carleton's Chicago Fire, 
and other old-time favorites continue to please. 

Of the lighter forms of poetry for recitations of some 
length, Saxe's Travesties — Orpheus and Eurydice, Ulysses 
and Folyphemus, Pyramus and Thisbe, etc., — together with 
Robert Browning's Fied Piper of Hamelin, Bret Harte's 
Heathen Chinee, and various humorous poems by Carleton 
and others, have been favorites for a long time. James 
Whitcomb Riley's dialect poems contain an almost inex- 
haustible store of the humorous and the pathetic. 

Recitations from the Classics. — Sometimes recitations in 
other languages than ours are appropriate to public enter- 
tainments. A descriptive recitation may be taken from 
Homer's Iliad or from Vergil's uEneid. Of the former 
of these classic masterpieces, the lament of Andromache 
on parting from Hector is one of the most beautiful and 
touching passages found in all the realm of literature, and 
is a favorite of all Greek scholars. A selection of thirty- 
nine lines (lines 477 to 515 of Book XXII of the Iliad) 
containing this scene may be rendered by a student of Greek, 
and is especially appropriate as a recitation for a young 
lady. A selection of similar interest and passion, portray- 
ing the last scene in the life of the unfortunate Queen Dido, 
is contained in lines 584 to 705 of Book IV of the JEneid. 
This passage may be shortened somewhat by a skillful elim- 
ination of some of the paragraphs. 

Many of the Greek odes of Anacreon are very simple, 
and may be easily set to music. Some of these might be 
rendered as songs, with an accompaniment of a stringed 
instrument. 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 263 

Various odes of Horace may be recited with, fine effect. 
The Second Ode of the First Book is descriptive, and will 
suggest a variety of intonations and of gestures. The 
Tivelfth Ode of the First Book was chanted at the burial 
of President Garfield, and is associated with various his- 
torical events of a similar character. The Ninth Ode of 
the Third Book of Horace is properly a dialogue, and rep- 
resents a very pretty little lovers' quarrel, which may be 
acted with fine effect by a boy and a girl. 

Abridgments of Latin or Greek plays, or single scenes 
selected from them, will sometimes supply excellent dia- 
logues for production in character on the school stage. 

For the student of Vergil, a very beautiful recitation is 
found in Tennyson's Ode on the Nineteenth Centenary of 
Vergil's Death. From it are taken the following lines, 
which may serve to introduce a recitation from the JEneid : 

Light among the vanished ages ; star that gildest yet this phantom 

shore ; 
Golden branch amid the shadows, kings and realms that pass to rise 

no more ; 
Now thy Forum roars no longer ; fallen every purple Caesar's dome — 
Tho' thine ocean-roll of rhythm sonnd forever of Imperial Rome — 
Now the Eome of slaves hath perished, and the Rome of freemen 

holds her place ; 
I, from out the Northern Island, sundered once from all the human 

race, 
I salute thee, Mantovano, I that loved thee since my day began, 
Wielder of the stateliest measure ever molded by the lips of man. 

Recitations in German and French. — Students of German 
will have access to a variety of ballads and short descrip- 
tive poems in that language. Burger's Lenore, while too 
long for most purposes of the sort contemplated, is one of 
the best selections for vocal rendering in the German lan- 
guage. Goethe's Erlkonig (Erl-king), Heine's Lorelei, and 
Schiller's Der Taucher (the diver) are favorite classics for 
recitations in German. 



264 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Victor Hugo's Djinns is a marvelous short poem in 
French, describing a storm at night, and filled with the 
subjective passion of a superstitious soul. The lines in- 
crease gradually in length (from two syllables to ten) and 
in power as the storm approaches, and they grow shorter 
and smoother from the crisis to the close. The meeting 
of Athalie and Joas, in Racine's French tragedy of Athalie, 
is a much admired selection, suitable as a dialogue for a 
young lady and a boy. Moliere's French comedies are 
filled with amusing scenes and " situations." 

Declamations and Orations. — In an earlier . period our 
national literature was largely oratorical. Before the day 
of the universal reading of daily newspapers in the centers 
of population, far more importance was attached to the 
spoken addresses of political orators than now. Every 
schoolhouse echoed the eloquence of leaders of thought in 
the Republic. We were a nation of declaimers. The decla- 
mation has fallen somewhat into disuse in later decades, 
but is worthy of revival. The best thoughts of American 
statesmen crowded the pages of old-time books of eloquence, 
and are still to be found in large measure in school readers, 
as well as in books of elocution and oratory. 1 It is well to 
cultivate the art of public speaking by reproducing the 
orations and public addresses of our statesmen, and the 
teacher or pupil will not lack for material. Such study is 
a valuable preparation for the composition and delivery of 
original orations. The latter are among the highest forms 
of composition, and offer to the more advanced students a 
valuable field for advancement. 

The successful orator must be a good judge of human na- 
ture. He must win the sympathy and favor of his audience 
before he can bring them to his way of thinking, and he must 

1 Of books of declamations, orations, and recitations there is no lack. 
Most books of elocution contain selections for practice in the rendering of 
such compositions. There are, besides, a large number of cheap pamphlet 
publications, such as the One Hundred Choice Selections series, De Witt's 
Choice Selections, Beadle's Speakers, Dick's Eecitations, etc. 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 265 

respect their opinions, prejudices, and desires. The reported 
speech of Mark Antony after Caesar's assassination is a 
remarkable example of the manner in which a mob may be 
won over by skillful speech. Antony had every reason to 
fear that his own life was in danger. The man who had 
loaded him with favors, and whose political schemes he had 
assisted, had been slain for attempting or desiring to make 
himself king — in which Antony had aided him. Brutus 
and Cassius had defended the murder before the people, and 
had been supported, for the name of king was odious to the 
Romans. Antony alone sought to turn the current of public 
opinion back to his dead friend. He began by referring to 
his right to speak at Caesar's funeral under leave of Brutus 
and the rest. 

" He was my friend, faithful and just to me," he said of 
Caesar; and as Caesar's friend he had come to pay the last 
honor to the memory of that hero. These words could not 
but appeal favorably to the Bomans, for it was at once an 
evidence of boldness and of faithfulness. The orator then 
alluded with the greatest art to some of Caesar's victories, 
and to the benefits which the victor had conferred upon the 
Bomans. By repeated change from innocent and inoffen- 
sive statements to bitter irony he branded Caesar's assassins 
as cowards, traitors, ingrates, and murderers, while he care- 
fully emphasized his respect for them in a mockery of words. 
Thus he led the excitement on and on until it became a 
burst of popular fury. 

Some speeches of Mirabeau and Danton, those of Burke 
in the trial of Warren Hastings, and some pleas of famous 
American lawyers, are equally good examples of what an 
orator may do when he enters into the feelings of the people 
and appeals to them for support. Cicero was unable to 
obtain a hearing for one of his greatest speeches — that in 
behalf of Milo — partly because he was immeasurably above 
his audience and could not easily bring them into full sym- 
pathy with himself. 



266 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Dialogues. — If there are to be dialogues, they should be 
well chosen, and illustrative of character. Often it is found 
better to select a single scene or part of a scene from some 
classic drama, than to choose commonplace dialogues from 
unknown authors or from writers of little merit. 

The old-time school readers contained many dialogues of 
great merit, largely taken from old plays, some of which 
have been forgotten. Not infrequently it happens that a 
drama which, considered as a whole, is not a success, con- 
tains some scene that is worthy to live, though the rest be 
discarded ; and thus there are to be found, even in the com- 
positions which have dropped out of literature, passages 
which none are willing to let die. The writers of books of 
oratory sometimes make it a point to reproduce these frag- 
ments, and it is well that they do. There are many who 
lament that these have disappeared from the later readers, 
which present, instead, the standard literature as recognized 
by the critics of the present day. In the old-time school 
dialogue there is often much of sententiousness, of point, of 
moral force to recommend it ; and it is an excellent plan to 
draw upon such material for the dialogues of school enter- 
tainments. 

Among the dialogues which entertained the school patrons 
of an earlier decade are the following : 

Glenalvon and Norval John Home. 

LochieVs Warning Thomas Campbell. 

Gil Bias and the Old Archbishop .... Adapted from Le Sage. 

Pizarro and Gomez Von Kotzebue. 

Varroc's Patriotism Ambrose Phillips. 

Ennui Charles Mathews. 

Alexander and the Robber John Aikin. 

The Colonists John Aikin. 

Old Fickle and Tristram "William Allingham. 

Mohammed and Alcanor Samuel Miller. 

Leaving School Mrs. L. C. Tuthill. 

The Soft Answer T. S. Arthur. 

Dionysius, Damon, and Pythias .... Archbishop Eenelon. 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 267 

Cato's Senate Joseph Addison. 

The Old Man's House Robert Southey. 

Elmira and Gonzales Felicia D. Hemans. 

William Tell Sheridan Knowles. 

Nobility Maria Edgeworth. 

The Doctor Henry Fielding. 

The Frenzy of Orra James Baillie. 

Balthazai and Volante John Tobin. 

Catiline and Cicero George Croly. 

Bienzi Mary R. Mitford. 

The Saracen Brothers Nathaniel Lee. 

Brutus and Titus Nathaniel Lee. 

Unjust Prejudices John Aikin. 

The Teacher and His Pupils John Aikin. 

The Choice of Occupation William Osborne. 

There is little or no humor in such dialogues as these. 
As the student of literature will note, some of them are 
taken from old dramas. For the most part, they are senti- 
mental and oratorical, and were designed to impress some 
moral lesson. In a reaction from performances so sober as 
the rendering of these, recourse was had to the merry dramas 
of the English Kestoration. When purged of their indeli- 
cacy, the roaring comedies of Farquhar, Wycherly, Congreve, 
and Vanbrugh supplied scenes for production on the school 
stage. The sharpers, swindlers, fops, stupid servants, and 
other exaggerated types of English life in the days of 
Charles II furnished amusement, certainly, but still were 
foreign to American life. A preference was felt for Ameri- 
can school dialogues by new writers, whether distinguished 
in the field of literature or not. A large number of cheap 
books of dialogues, 1 of various degrees of merit, have been 

1 Among the books available for supplying dialogues suitable to the use 
of graded schools are the following: Choice Dialogues for School and 
Social Entertainments, by Mrs. J. W. Shoemaker ; Fenno's FavoHtes (fifty 
dialogues), by Frank H. Fenno; De "Witt's School Dialogues (12mos), 
Children's Dialogues, Little Dialogues for Little People, and Pieces and 
Dialogues for Our Darlings, Beadle's Dime Dialogue Books, Dick's Dia- 
logues, etc. The plays of Shakespeare constitute an inexhaustible supply 
from which dialogues may be taken. 



268 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

published to meet the demands of the school stage, as dis- 
tinguished from the legitimate drama. 

There are in these, and in other books of like nature, 
dialogues of all descriptions, adapted to pupils of all grades. 
Care should be exercised in the selection. Only the inter- 
esting and suitable should be chosen — those possessing point 
and obvious purpose. Humor is a desirable feature, if it 
can be used legitimately and profitably. The well-written 
dialogue of a sentimental character is to be commended, 
however, both for its influence upon character, and for the 
training in pure expression which it affords. 

The drama has been variously regarded in the moral 
world. The English drama began in the Church, and was 
devised by the priests, as a means of religious instruction. 
There yet remain, in some out-of-the-way nooks of Europe, 
periodical dramatic representations of a religious character, 
such as the miracle play of Oberammergau, in Bavaria. The 
Puritans closed the theaters, considering the drama as essen- 
tially sinful, whatever its form. With the restoration of 
the monarchy, succeeding the Commonwealth, came the 
corrupt drama, which was unquestionably bad. In our own 
time there are those who cannot look with complacency upon 
any dramatic entertainment, but their number is growing 
less. In many schools dramatic representations are regarded 
as a valuable form of art, and sometimes complete and rep- 
resentative dramas are produced by students, with a high 
degree of success. In various colleges the classic dramas 
of the Creeks and Romans are produced in the original lan- 
guages, to the delight of all lovers of ancient art. For most 
school purposes, single scenes or acts from the English 
drama 1 are found sufficient. 

The Stage, Scenery, etc. — Where general entertainments 
of the kind described are given in public halls, a complete 

1 French's Standard Dramas will be found to contain a great variety 
of plays of various description and quality, including the best works of 
master writers in the dramatic field. 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 269 

stage with all its accessories is generally supplied, and the 
managers of the entertainment are spared any care and trouble 
on this account. Sometimes, however, it becomes necessary 
to improvise a stage, or, at least, its appliances. Elaborate 
appointments are not necessary. Frequently a little inge- 
nuity in the arrangement of the furniture and decorations 
will meet the requirements for the stage setting. In case it 
be desirable to procure a few scenes for the background of 
plays or dialogues, these can be obtained generally at a 
small expense from the publishers of plays and from dealers 
in theatrical properties. 

Tableaux. — The tableau vivant, or living picture, was more 
popular formerly than at present. Objection is made that 
the care necessary to its production is out of proportion to 
the satisfaction derived, since the tableau is viewed for so 
very short a period of time. However, tableaux are almost 
the only means for portraying upon the school stage the 
figures of classic mythology, and frequently they are advan- 
tageously employed to depict striking scenes in history and 
literature. 

There was something of a revival of the tableau in the 
United States in the Columbian year. As a means of rais- 
ing money to provide for the school exhibits at the Colum- 
bian Exposition, thousands of schools gave entertainments 
in which scenes of American history were depicted in 
tableaux, generally with a high degree of success and 
satisfaction. 

For historical tableaux there is an unlimited field. In 
many instances these may be based upon notable paintings, 
as, for instance, those famous works of art in the Capitol at 
Washington, which represent, respectively, the landing of 
Columbus, the Pilgrims, the discovery of the Mississippi, 
etc. 

Various striking scenes in the life of Washington, and 
pictures of the Revolutionary period, were especially popular 
in the Columbian year. Pictures of old colony life in New 



270 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

England and Virginia were also frequently presented. Tab- 
leaux of American history generally are understood and 
appreciated by the audience. 

A modification of the tableau may be found in the stage 
chorus. The personages of the tableau may retain their 
position in the background and along the sides of the stage, 
while a song is rendered as a solo or duet, and all can join 
in the chorus, with suitable expression and action. The 
tableau chorus may sing the entire song, if this be pre- 
ferred. 

Mythological characters have been popular as subjects 
for tableaux, and also for floats in the spectacular celebra- 
tions of Mardi gras in various cities of Europe and America. 
The draped figures in numerous works of art offer sugges- 
tions as to topics of this character. The mythology of the 
Greeks and Romans, the Norse, the Persians, the Hindus, 
and the American Indians is available for a class of schools 
in which these subjects are familiar. For the most part, 
they would be generally deemed inappropriate for the more 
elementary schools. Any good work on mythology will 
suggest suitable topics for such representations. 

Music for School Exhibitions. — The nature and the selec- 
tion of musical compositions to be rendered must vary with 
the different circumstances of the schools. Choruses by 
the school or class, together with solos, duets, or quartets 
by pupils qualified to render them, add much to the interest 
and pleasure of the occasion. Patriotic songs are always 
appropriate, and the national songs of other lands are 
often rendered with fine effect. Instrumental music may 
be accompanied by calisthenic exercises of various kinds, 
and by marches of the smaller pupils, if any such partici- 
pate in the programme. 

Exercises for Small Pupils. — Throughout this chapter 
have been considered chiefly the exercises suitable for 
students of high schools and academies, and for pupils of 
the more advanced classes in the ungraded schools. In a 



SCHOOL EXHIBITIONS 271 

general exhibition, however, it is often found desirable to 
have various grades, including the smaller pupils, repre- 
sented. In such cases it is better to assign to the latter 
an early place on the programme. For the most part, the 
various performances described — readings, recitations, dia- 
logues, tableaux, and songs — may be adapted to the pupils 
of the lower grades. Exercise songs and some of the games 
for little children which are presented in Chapter III of this 
volume, will be found suitable for incorporation in a pro- 
gramme in which the smaller pupils participate. 



CHAPTER XI 

SCHOOL DEBATES 

The Value of Debates. — The debating club, to which allu- 
sion has been made in a preceding chapter, was an important 
feature of American seminaries, and often of common schools, 
in an earlier day. The debate has generally ceased to be 
the single feature of students' societies, but it still holds 
an important place in them. There has been, moreover, a 
tendency in later years to introduce into the school work 
exercises of this character, as a part of the rhetorical pro- 
gramme; and in very many high schools the practice of 
extemporaneous speaking of an argumentative character has 
proved exceedingly valuable in its results. The arguments 
in favor of this form of school work are such as should 
claim the attention of every teacher in academic and high 
school grades, or in the ungraded schools where there are 
pupils sufficiently advanced to participate in discussions. 

However valuable an accomplishment it may be to read 
well, it is assuredly better to talk well. Whatever may be 
the influence of the writer, and whatever prominence may 
be attached to his name and reputation, his present, active 
influence will be strengthened if he can exert the same 
abilities and express the same ideas in speech. He will 
thus reach an audience that may never hear of what he 
prints — much less read it. In the present day, when the 
test of a man's life may be made and may be over in the 
course of half an hour's duration, it is important that every 
one should be able to impress himself clearly and forcibly. 

272 



SCHOOL DEBATES 273 

And aside from the duty of the individual to himself, there 
is the argument of patriotism and public policy. Is it not 
a duty that Americans owe to their country to qualify 
themselves to speak intelligently and with some authority 
upon the questions of public welfare that are constantly 
arising? Heaven forbid that we should ever become a 
nation of mere speakers ! But there are times when a judi- 
cious, plain, straightforward statement of facts, based upon 
common sense, will change the current of public opinion, 
just as there are times which require the highest eloquence 
and the most persuasive arguments. Thus far, in the history 
of the United States, the man has been found when the 
crisis came ; and the history of the world's eloquence can 
show few better examples than might be furnished from the 
meetings of our statesmen, from the first Congress of the 
Colonies to the close of the war of the Secession. 

Free speech is a characteristic of free government, but 
speech must be fluent and sensible as well as free. This 
gift of speech, so essential an element, is doubly necessary 
in a country made up of so many different classes, often 
misunderstanding each other, suspecting each other's mo- 
tives, and permeated with partisan and sectional jealousy. 
Training in the art of speaking in public is a part of the 
training for citizenship. 

True, there is danger in an excess of the argumentative 
spirit. It may produce wranglers and hypercritical censors 
who will call every man to account for every thought and 
action. There are, however, many questions on which we 
dare not remain in doubt — where a decision of some sort 
is necessary. If we accept by prescription the opinions of 
others, we act blindly, and surrender our own personal inde- 
pendence and responsibility. There is always the desire to 
find out the truth, simply because it is the truth, — a principle 
which should be first in the life and conduct of every man, 
and which will naturally lead to the development of the 
powers of analysis and argument. 

SCH. EEC. & AMUS. — 18 



274 SCHOOL RECBEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

There is little danger that the school debate will lead to 
heated controversy. The amenities of courtesy and respect- 
ful discussion, if acquired in the school, will tend to mitigate 
the asperities of disputes in real life. The pupil who learns 
to argue without loss of temper and without giving offense 
will be far better equipped for such controversies as may 
prove inevitable in his later career. 

Debates in the School. — Any pupil who is old enough to 
conduct an intelligent discussion is old enough to learn the 
courtesies which should characterize it, and to receive sug- 
gestions as to the form and arrangement of his argument. 
School debates may have simple beginnings. A difference 
of opinion develops in a class upon some point of history, 
of grammar, of geography, or of arithmetic. The teacher 
selects two representative pupils having opposite opinions 
upon the subject, invites each in turn to make a statement 
of his views. Thus, without formality, a discussion is 
begun. Perhaps it is deferred until some other period of 
the day, when more attention can be given to it. After 
each has expressed his views, others may be invited to 
participate. Pupils who would be startled at the thought 
of being called upon to conduct a debate will thus find 
themselves actually debating, without premeditation or 
formality. 

Sometimes the school debate is begun as a written exer- 
cise. Probably this is the better plan for the more advanced 
pupils. But it is best to encourage as much and as early 
as possible the oral, natural, and extemporaneous expression 
of thought. 

Debates for the Older Pupils. — The debate should have 
some place in every high school. Where there are well- 
maintained literary societies in connection with the high 
school, the more formal and extended debates may be left 
to these, the debates during school hours being more gen- 
eral in participation, briefer, and more directly related to 
the studies of the school. 



SCHOOL DEBATES 275 

School Societies. — Of the value of literary societies of 
students it is unnecessary to speak at length. The elements 
of the successful school are not held together merely by 
school work and schoolroom association. There is gener- 
ally a feeling of fellowship, of mutual interest and respect, 
of common purposes and aims, that is carried forward from 
year to year and becomes as positive an entity as the corps 
of teachers or the school buildings. Usually this school 
spirit has its birth in something independent and outside 
the school itself — in something that the pupils themselves 
are doing or have done. Naturally, it takes the form of 
field athletics or of the literary society, the debating club, 
or all of these. It is not necessary that the membership 
of the society or club be confined to the school itself. It 
may be extended to include all who are interested in work 
of the character contemplated. 

The Organization of a School Society. — The organization 
of a society should be strong and regular from the first. 
It should be properly officered, and should have adequate 
rules of membership and procedure, with stated times of 
meeting, regularly prepared programmes, and, above all, 
some means of securing regularity in the performances. 

For a simple organization the officers should be the presi- 
dent, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and the programme 
committee, and these should hold office long enough for 
each to become familiar with the duties of his office. 

In the organization of a society, and subsequently, it is 
well to devote some careful attention to the study of parlia- 
mentary law or the rules for the conducting of public 
assemblies. The position of the presiding officer is one 
requiring tact, skill, consideration, quick judgment, and 
unfailing courtesy. The secretary should keep full, accur- 
ate minutes of the proceedings, including the subjects of 
the debates, the names of the debaters and of the judges, 
the decisions rendered, and any other facts of interest which 
are worthy of preservation. 



276 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

The Constitution. — The constitution of a society is a writ- 
ten instrument stating its purpose, the form of its organiza- 
tion, the manner of electing officers and members, and the 
laws by which it is governed. A constitution is generally 
introduced by a preamble, which states the purpose of the 
society. The subjects included in the constitution are then 
treated under separate articles, and each sub-head is provided 
for by a division of an article called a section. The follow- 
ing is a common form of constitution : 

The Preamble. 

Article I. — Name of the Society. 
Article II. — Officers. 

Article III. — Duties of Officers. A section is devoted to the 
duties of each of the officers. 

Article IV. — Election of Officers. 

Article V. — Membership. 

Article VI. — Amendments, how made and adopted. 

Article VII. — Order of Business. 

Under the head of by-laws are included all the rules that affect 
the time of meetings, the quorum, special meetings, the inauguration 
of officers and initiation of members, dues, fines, appeals, appoint- 
ment and duties of committees, and all the general rules of business 
procedure that pertain to the management of the assembly. 

Order of Business. — For a debating society the following 
order of business should be generally followed ; for a liter- 
ary society of a more general character, the entire pro- 
gramme may take the place which is assigned to the 
debate : 

Call to order. 

Reading and adoption of the minutes of previous meeting. 

Reports of committees. 

New and unfinished business. 

The debate. 

Decision of the judges. 

Miscellaneous business. 

Adjournment. 



SCHOOL DEBATES 277 

If meetings are held every week, it is often better to 
have the alternate meetings given up to a miscellaneous 
programme. Such a programme would probably consist 
of readings or recitations, declamations, essays, and dia- 
logues. A programme which is as informal as possible 
would be more enjoyable, and may take the form of the 
discussion of a new book or poem, a newspaper article, or 
any form of information in which the society will be inter- 
ested. 

A series of questions may be incorporated in the order of 
business, and a question put to each member separately. 
The Addisonian Society of New York used the following 
questions : 

1. Have you lately met with anything calculated to inter- 
est or improve the society, in history, travels, science, the 
arts, or other branches of useful knowledge ? 

2. Do you know of any new and amusing story proper to 
relate in conversation ? 

3. Have you any questions for debate to submit for the 
consideration of the society ? 

The principal value of such alternate meetings lies in the 
fact that they bring the members of the society closer 
together, and do away with much of the formality which 
must result if the strict adherence to parliamentary rules is 
observed at all times. If to every member of the society 
is given a chance to contribute to the pleasure and informa- 
tion of the other members, all will have a feeling of ease 
which perhaps will be acquired in no other way. 

Motions. — Subjects for consideration are brought before 
the meeting by means of motions or of written communica- 
tions. A motion requires a second. After a sufficient time 
has been allowed for discussion, the question is "put" to 
the assembly for vote. Voting is commonly by the ayes 
and nays, but may be by roll call, each member voting in 
the affirmative or negative as his name is pronounced by the 
secretary. A motion can be amended. The amendment in 



278 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

turn can be amended ; but the amendment to an amendment 
cannot be amended. 

Motions not Debatable. — There are some motions which do 
not admit of debate, but must be put to vote as soon as they 
are made and seconded. These are the calls to order, and 
the motions : 

To adjourn. 

To close the debate. 

To extend the limits of the debate. 

To read a paper. 

To suspend the rules. 

To take a motion from the table. 

To take up a question out of its proper order. 

Motions not Amendable. — There are some motions which 
cannot be amended, but must be voted upon as presented, 
unless a substitute motion be adopted. These are mo- 
tions : 

To adjourn (unless to adjourn to a specific time and place). 

To amend an amendment. 

To lay upon the table. 

To postpone indefinitely. 

To reconsider a debatable or undebatable question. 

To suspend the rules. 

To take up a motion from the table. 

To withdraw a motion. 

Motions Requiring a Two-thirds Vote. — There are some 
motions which are not decided by the votes of a mere ma- 
jority, but require a two-thirds vote. Generally included 
among these are the motions : 

To amend the rules. 

To close the debate. 

To extend the limits of the debate. 

To limit the debate. 

To suspend the rules. 

To take up the question out of its proper order. 

Also the previous question. 



SCHOOL DEBATES 279 

Motions Always in Order. — There are some motions which 
are in order, even when there is already a question before 
the house. These are : 

The call to order. 

The appeal. 

Objection to consideration. 

The Right to the Floor. — Any member desiring to speak 
upon a question must rise and address the presiding officer 
by his title. This officer announces the name of the person 
rising, who is then said to " have the floor." 

The mover of a motion is entitled to the floor if he has 
not spoken previously, though some one else address the 
presiding officer first. No one may speak twice upon the 
same subject when there is some one who has not spoken 
and addresses the " chair " at the same time. When neither 
of the foregoing rules apply, it is customary for the Chair to 
recognize the advocates and opponents of a measure in turn. 
It is out of , order to interrupt a speaker who has the floor 
for any purpose except for a question of privilege, a call to 
order, a call for the orders of the day, or an objection to the 
consideration of the question. 

The Point of Order. — When any member of the assembly 
notices a breach of order, he may rise and say, " Mr. Speaker, 
I rise to a point of order." The member who previously 
has had the floor now takes his seat, and the chairman calls 
upon the member making the point of order to explain. 
The Chair decides the point, from which decision an appeal 
may be taken if it be seconded. The assembly then decides 
by vote upon the point of order. The majority vote will 
govern in this case. 

Parliamentary Usage. — The chairman should insist upon 
courteous and considerate conduct on the floor of the as- 
sembly, and he has the right to expect the assistance of the 
members of the body in his endeavors. A good manual of 
parliamentary law and customs should be carefully studied 



280 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

by all the members of the society — especially by the offi- 
cers. There will be numerous opportunities for practice 
in parliamentary usage, and there are few more interesting 
contests than are furnished by the divisions of a well-drilled 
assembly, especially when they are almost evenly matched. 

Subjects for Debates. — For beginners in debate, easy sub- 
jects should be chosen — either topics that are very common 
or those that have a local interest. The subjects should 
not require the use of many references. Sometimes they 
may be taken from the regular course of study or of the 
pupils' reading. Very often the pupils will suggest topics 
which are of interest to them, and which they ordinarily 
discuss in conversation — such as the relative value of cer- 
tain games and sports, or the reason or excuse for certain 
customs and observances. Among the familiar topics which 
may be chosen are the comparative value of bicycling and 
horseback riding ; a comparison between the pastimes of 
fishing and hunting, or between the games of baseball and 
football. For pupils acquainted with American history, 
such subjects as the following may be selected : 

Resolved, That the services of George Washington, as 
President, were more beneficial to the United States than 
were those of Abraham Lincoln. 

Was Grant a greater general than Lee ? 

For the more advanced pupils, and for debating societies 
in general, the subjects should be not only of interest, but 
also of some weight. They should be sufficiently serious 
and important to require some labor in the preparation of 
the debate. Each debate should add materially to the 
knowledge of the assembly. The subjects selected will 
vary with the membership of the club. In some societies 
questions of politics, finance, government, and social move- 
ments will predominate; in others art, history, literature, 
law, and philosophy will be more common. In general, 
whatever be the subject, a present and practical application 
should be made of it. 



SCHOOL DEBATES 281 

Owing to the peculiar character of debate, and the com- 
paratively short sessions of debating clubs, it is impossible 
to do more than refer to authorities or make short quota- 
tions from them, omitting the literature of the subject, 
which is often very extensive and interesting. 

Occasionally the programme may be varied to include 
papers, reading from . authorities, poems, chapters from 
novels — anything, in short, that relates directly to the 
subject in hand, and that will add variety and interest to 
the debate. 

In addition to the selection of the subjects for debate and 
the general arrangement of the programme, the committee 
on exercises may prepare a list of the more important and 
common authorities and references, as an aid to the debaters. 

List of Subjects. — The subjects for debate are inexhaust- 
ible in number. Following is a suggestive list from which 
topics may be chosen : 

Is representative democracy the best form of government ? 

Should education be made the basis of suffrage ? 

Should there be a property qualification for suffrage ? 

Resolved, That protection is a wiser, better policy than free trade 
for the United States. 

Are trades unions a benefit to the laboring classes ? 

Are business corporations injurious to the welfare of the country ? 

Should education in the public schools be compulsory ? 

Is the English literature of the Elizabethan era superior to that of 
the Victorian ? 

Should Hawthorne rank higher among American authors than 
Irving ? 

Was Prescott a greater historian than Motley ? 

Has the religious progress of the world kept pace with the intel- 
lectual progress ? 

Is the law more useful to society than medicine ? 

Were the great men of ancient times superior to those of modern 
times ? 

Which exerts the deeper influence upon the mind — beauty or 
power ? 

Do the laboring classes have a proportionate share of the blessings 
of life ? 



282 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Should eight hours he the limit of the working day ? 

Should personal property be taxed ? 

Has the multiplication of books affected literature favorably or 
unfavorably ? 

Which is the more influential form of literature — fiction or the 
drama ? 

Will America become the leader in the literature of the English 
language ? 

Have women more influence than men in the promotion of morality 
and religion ? 

Which have had the greater influence upon the world — the Jews 
or the Greeks ? 

Which is of the greater importance — the study of history or the 
study of literature ? 

Which will lead men the farther — curiosity or necessity ? 

Do newspapers affect general intelligence more than books ? 

Is the progress of civilization favorable to poetry ? 

Is success in life due more to opportunity or to ability ? 

Is learning a greater power in society than wealth ? 

Has Germany contributed more to the advancement of Protestant 
religion than England ? 

Was the Mexican war justifiable on the part of the United States ? 

Which has done more for civil liberty — England or the United 
States ? 

Was the reign of Louis XIV beneficial to Erance ? 

Did Garrison contribute more than Sumner to the overthrow of 
slavery ? 

Was Clay a greater orator than Webster ? 

Should the study of the Bible as a literary study be taken up in the 
schools ? 

Is a man responsible for his belief ? 

Will the present form of the British government last as long as the 
present form of government of the United States ? 

Should the government control the telegraph and railway systems ? 

Should the cities own their intramural transportation lines, gas 
works, and waterworks ? 

Can civil service reform and municipal management be made ef- 
fective under the present political system ? 

In its influence upon the history of the world, was the battle of 
Marathon more important than that of Waterloo ? 

Should the President of the United States be elected directly by 
popular vote ? 



SCHOOL DEBATES 283 

Is William Morris a greater poet than Swinburne ? 

Should the liberty of the press be restricted ? 

Have Americans won the most brilliant victories on the land or on 
the sea ? 

Which is of the greatest value in education — the classics, mathe- 
matics, or the sciences ? (For three debaters.) 

Are outdoor sports as a means of physical development better than 
the exercises of the gymnasium ? 

Is cycling superior to walking as a means of exercise ? 

Was the French Kevolution justifiable on the part of the people ? 

Was the banishment of Napoleon Bonaparte to St. Helena justifi- 
able? 

Is there more to approve than to condemn in the character of Oliver 
Cromwell ? 

Is prosperity favorable to the morals of the nation ? 

Has the introduction of machinery been, on the whole, a benefit to 
the laboring classes ? ' 

Should subjects that may be actually applied in after life be the 
only subjects taught in schools ? 

Would an equalization of property conduce to the happiness of 
society ? 

Is popularity the true test of the merits of a production ? 

Should the quantity of land held by one person or corporation be 
limited ? 

Is the coeducation of the sexes the best form of education ? 

Is the coeducation of the white and colored children desirable in 
this country ? 

Is a condition of universal peace probable ? 

Was there a greater field for eloquence in ancient than in modern 
times ? 

Is a life of leisure desirable ? 

Should politics be made a permanent business or profession ? 

Do revolutions hinder or advance the cause of civilization ? 

Do the present police, jail, and prison systems tend to increase or 
to decrease crime ? 

Which contributes more to success in life — talent or tact ? 

Which is the better as a general exercise — Rugby or American 
football ? 

Do the results of the Arctic expeditions justify the cost and loss of 
life attending them ? 

Are the United States a great military power ? 

Was Mohammed merely an enthusiast, or was he an impostor ? 



284 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Should medical and law schools require the equivalent of a college 
course for admission ? 

Has any citizen of the United States a right to be neutral in politics ? 

The Relation between Thought and Speech. — A well-man- 
aged debating society furnishes unlimited opportunities for 
practice in speaking, and as such is a very important adjunct 
of high schools, academies, and colleges. A further consid- 
eration in its favor is found in the relation between thought 
and speech. Every man must speak as he thinks. If his 
thought be loose and disconnected, his expression will be 
the same. It is very desirable, then, at the outset, that all 
subjects on which we have to speak shall be studied thor- 
oughly, and that our knowledge be so classified and arranged 
that we may depend on it in the hour of need. When a sub- 
ject has been once considered, there should be no stop until 
all its conditions and relations have been mastered. Here, 
indeed, is the difficulty which confronts the beginner in all 
kinds of literary work. Understanding the general meaning 
and scope of a subject is different from being familiar with 
it. It is the intimate, accurate, comprehensive knowledge 
that makes the ready writer or speaker. The student should 
go to the bottom of everything, if possible, so that he will 
have, not confused ideas, not vague, general impressions, but 
clear-cut and accurate conceptions. It is true that this is 
an ideal, but it may become largely a reality if the right 
methods be followed. While, perhaps, it is impossible for 
one man to collect in his own mind all the elements of 
human knowledge upon any one given subject, it is possible 
for him to see clearly into the rudiments of things if he will 
be accurate and careful in observation and judgment. In 
all forms of argument it is the thought that tells. It is the 
reason to which the appeal must be made which decides the 
question. 

The language in which the thought is expressed should 
be suited to the subject, and should be, above all, clear and 
forcible. Pupils should be taught to use good language at 



SCHOOL DEBATES 285 

all times, and for all purposes. If children have two vo- 
cabularies, they are apt to use one in connection with their 
comrades and in the ordinary affairs of life, and to reserve 
the other for important occasions. While the reserve vo- 
cabulary may be good as far as it goes, it is generally very 
limited. Goldsmith once said of Dr. Samuel Johnson, that 
if the latter were to write a fable about little fishes he would 
make them talk like great whales. Children often have an 
idea that large words are necessary to the expression of 
great ideas, and their composition or speech is likely to be- 
come pompous and stupid.' The most effective remedy for 
this fault is constant practice in writing and speaking. 

A plan which has been followed by many great speakers 
is to study carefully a selection from some great author or 
speaker, and then to attempt a reproduction of it, following 
the original as closely as possible. This is an excellent 
way to avoid faults, and it helps materially in the forma- 
tion of a correct and easy style of expression. 

Victor Hugo was in the habit of writing a few pages 
every day, even when not engaged in any regular work, in 
order to preserve the facility of expression for which he 
was so famous. 

Henry Clay once remarked : " I owe every success in life 
to one single fact; namely, that at an early age I com- 
menced and continued for some years the practice of daily 
reading or speaking the contents of some historical or scien- 
tific book. These offhand efforts were sometimes made in 
a cornfield, sometimes in a forest, and not infrequently in 
some distant barn with a horse and ox for my only auditors. 
It is to this early practice that I am indebted for the pri- 
mary and leading impulses that stimulated my progress and 
have shaped and molded my destiny." 

Sheridan entered Parliament after having achieved suc- 
cess in other walks of life. His first speech was a disap- 
pointment to himself and to his friends. He was told that 
he would be wiser to stick to his former pursuits. 



286 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

" No," he replied, " it is in me and it shall come out." 

And so it did after patient and unremitting work. 

Fox said that he became a great debater at the expense 
of Parliament. For some time after entering the House he 
used to speak upon almost every subject that came up for 
discussion, whether he was interested in it or not, and in 
this way he acquired the experience and facility that made 
him so noted as a debater. 

Perhaps the most famous popular debate in American 
history was that between Senator Stephen A. Douglas and 
Abraham Lincoln, in Illinois in 1858. Douglas had every- 
thing in his favor, — fame, ease and grace of manner, and 
practice as a speaker and parliamentarian. Lincoln did not 
possess those qualities which are necessarily the acquire- 
ments of long experience, and his manner was not to be 
compared with that of Douglas. Yet from the opening of 
the debate Lincoln's sympathy, his broad humanity, his 
close contact with the people, his sound sense, his earnest- 
ness, his humor, and his pathos went straight to the hearts 
of his audience. It has been given to few men to speak 
more nobly, or more effectively than he, or to do more for 
the general welfare of humanity. 

The Mock Congress. — As an agreeable change from the 
usual form of the debating society, a mock congress or a 
political convention may be organized. If the meeting take 
the form of a congress, a speaker should be elected, and the 
leaders of each party should be chosen. The leaders may 
then select their respective sides, or the members may be 
divided by lot, after which the different committees are to 
be arjpointed. Bills are introduced, amended, referred to 
committees, and advanced to different readings exactly as 
in Congress. Subjects for a mock legislation can be selected 
from those occupying the attention of the National or State 
governments at the time. Information concerning these 
topics may be obtained from the papers, and a beneficial 
interest in public affairs will often result. 



SCHOOL DEBATES 287 

The Mock Convention. — The mock political convention, or 
caucus, is much more interesting, but hardly so instructive, 
as it is at most a game of parliamentary fencing. The 
society should be as evenly divided as possible, since mat- 
ters will be much more interesting thus. The usual officers 
and committees should be appointed. Each party will en- 
deavor by every parliamentary means to prevent its oppo- 
nents from making nominations. Often, however, the regu- 
lar society elections will furnish ample opportunities for 
contests of this sort. So long as the work of the society is 
not hindered, or its practical purpose defeated, these con- 
tests are rather beneficial than otherwise. 

Requisites of a Good Debater. — He who would become a 
successful debater must be a person of broad and general 
knowledge ; he must have facts and figures at his tongue's 
end, and must be well posted in all the principal events of 
the day. He must keep up with the times in history, in 
literature, and in ■ art, and he must be familiar with the 
spirit of the people and of the age in which he lives. 



CHAPTER XII 

EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 

Science Study in the Elementary Schools. — Among the rec- 
ommendations of the Committee of Ten in reference to the 
study of physics, chemistry, and astronomy is the following : 

That the study of simple natural phenomena be introduced in the 
elementary schools ; and that this study, so far as practicable, be pur- 
sued by means of experiments carried on by the pupil. 

An ideal arrangement of courses of study would lead 
systematically and collaterally from the most elementary 
to the most advanced presentation of all the subjects that 
constitute the school course. In a number of branches this 
plan has been followed very generally; in others, it has 
been disregarded. 

It happens very often that the pupil of the secondary 
school comes to the subject of physics, or to that of chem- 
istry, botany, or physiology, with no previous training what- 
ever in these branches. The phenomena of life and nature 
with which he has been in constant contact have little 
meaning for him. There is no reason for such a delay of 
elementary instruction in these lines. Elementary studies 
in botany, physiology, physics, and chemistry may begin 
with addition in arithmetic, or even with the First Reader. 
Such studies should be carefully graded, and much pains 
should be taken in the selection and presentation of the 
topics, in order that they may be adapted in every case to 
the grade for which they are intended. 

288 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 289 

The more elemental Rollo Books by Jacob Abbott, which 
entertained an army of young children in a former gener- 
ation, presented various subjects in natural science in a 
manner which placed them within easy comprehension of 
boys and girls in the elementary schools ; and other engag- 
ing volumes of similar scope added greatly to the diffusion 
of scientific knowledge among the children of America. 
Under the old-time school regime, such books were almost 
the sole supply of scientific instruction adapted to the com- 
prehension and interest of the younger pupils. The sub- 
jects were not presented at all in the schools until the pupil 
was sufficiently advanced to study in the highest classes a 
somewhat thorough treatise upon each. Pupils of the public 
schools who had not access to libraries containing juvenile 
books of the sort described, and who did not enjoy the 
luxury of possessing copies of their own, were greatly at a 
disadvantage ; while a child who acquired the elementary 
principles of various natural sciences from juvenile reading 
books was deemed somewhat precocious, since natural phi- 
losophy, even in its most elementary forms, was held to 
be a subject suited only to the understanding of persons 
already well advanced in other studies. The recommenda- 
tion of the Committee of Ten, which has been quoted, is 
opportune and commendable. 

The Value of Science Study. — Apart from the value of a 
knowledge of the particular branches of science mentioned, 
there is in the study of science, in general, an element of 
analysis and investigation, together with an opportunity for 
individual work, for the discovery of facts personally un- 
known, and for the application of logical reason and scien- 
tific induction, not to be surpassed in any other lines of 
study. Scientific observation leads to the discovery of 
causes, scientific deduction to the tracing of effects, and the 
two combined to the formulation of laws. The laws are 
the conditions under which given causes produce given 
effects. Scientific observation must be complete and accu- 

SCH. REG. & AMXJS. — 19 



290 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

rate, and it is in the cultivation of the power of full and 
accurate observation that the principal value of scientific 
studies lies. The freezing of water, for instance, is a com- 
mon phenomenon; but a number of interesting and instruc- 
tive experiments can be made to show exactly what freezing 
involves, what changes the water undergoes, and what new 
properties it assumes. 

It is proposed here to present a brief outline of experi- 
mental studies in physics, which may be adapted to the use 
of schools of various grades. The scheme may be extended, 
amplified, aad otherwise varied in many ways. 

Preliminary Definitions. — To begin with, a few funda- 
mental terms may be given, and the three forms of matter 
explained and illustrated. Care should be taken that the 
idea is clearly expressed in the definitions. The following 
are among the most important of the preliminary defini- 
tions : 

The attraction of gravitation is the name given to the force 
which causes material bodies to approach each other, when 
free to move. In the case of terrestrial bodies the name 
given to this force is iveight. 

The mass of a body is the amount of matter in it; and 
the weight of different quantities of the same thing will 
vary as the amount of mass. 

The amount of space which a body occupies is its volume. 

By the density of a body is meant the nearness together of 
the particles of matter which the body contains. 

The most minute body of matter is called an atom. Atoms 
unite to form molecules. No two molecules are in permanent 
contact, but all are in constant motion. This may be ex- 
plained by the action of heat on matter, its effect being to 
drive the molecules farther apart. 

The three states of matter may be illustrated by means of 
water in its various forms as a solid, a liquid, and a gas (ice, 
water, and steam). When the molecules of the ice become 
further separated, the ice melts and the liquid is formed. 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 291 

When the molecules of the liquid become further separated, 
the liquid is converted into steam. True steam is invisible, 
though the vapor of partially condensed steam is visible as 
a cloudlike mass. Water occupies smaller space in the form 
of a liquid than in the form of a gas (steam), because in its 
liquid form the molecules are closer together ; and since the 
molecules are still closer together in a crystal of the ice, 
it might be inferred naturally that, on being converted into 
ice, it would occupy a still smaller space. That it does not, 
is owing to the fact that the ice crystals are not packed 
closely together, but are so arranged as to leave many small 
spaces between them. Following are a few simple experi- 
ments illustrative of the principles stated : 

Simple Experiments Illustrative of the Foregoing. — (1) Partly 
fill a glass bottle with water. Insert a cork in the mouth of 
the bottle, and in the cork place a rubber (or, better, glass) 
tube of some length. Heat the water in the bottle ; it will 
take the form of a gas (steam). The inference is that heat 
has changed the water from a liquid to a gas. Cool the tube 
through which the steam passes, and the latter will be con- 
densed into water again. 

(2) Place another cork loosely in the neck of the bottle, 
and heat as before. The cork will be driven from the bot- 
tle. The inference is, again, that steam occupies more space 
than water. 

(3) Fill a tumbler half full of water, and insert in it a 
second tumbler which fits closely. If the water cannot get 
out, it will be impossible to force the second tumbler into 
the first. Strike a smart blow with the palm of the hand 
upon the surface of water ; the sensation is much like that 
caused by striking any other flat surface. Take a common 
syringe, having a tight-fitting cylinder, fill it with water, 
and place the nozzle against a surface, so as to prevent the 
escape of the water. It will be impossible to force the 
cylinder more than a little way. Water, therefore, has 
resistance. 



292 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

(4) Weigh an empty tumbler, then fill it half full of 
water and weigh it. Water has weight also. 

(5) Take a shallow vessel (a large pan, for example) and 
partly fill it with water. Expose it, so that the water will 
freeze. Notice how it freezes. Long crystals will be 
formed, shooting out -from the sides of the pan, becoming 
more and more numerous, until the water is frozen through- 
out. It has now assumed the third form of matter — a solid. 
Fill a bottle full of water and cork tightly ; then allow the 
water to freeze. The bottle will be broken. The inference 
is that water occupies more space as ice than as a liquid ; 
also that ice is lighter than water, and therefore is formed 
on the surface of streams. 

(6) To make crystals of other forms, take two ounces of 
powdered alum and dissolve it in a teacup half full of boil- 
ing water. Suspend from a little splinter, placed across the 
cup, three or four threads, allowing the ends to hang a 
little way into the solution. Let the cup stand twenty- 
four hours, and beautiful crystals will form on the bottom 
and sides of the cup and on the threads. Crystals of bichro- 
mate of potash, blue vitriol, copperas, and other substances 
may be made, and kept in the school cabinets. 

(7) Clean a piece of window glass, warm it, and pour on 
it a strong solution of sal ammoniac or of saltpetre. Drain 
off the liquid, and hold the wet glass up to the sunlight, 
or, better, examine it with a magnifying glass, and watch 
the formation of the crystals. 

(8) Watch the formation of frost on the window panes, or 
catch snowflakes on a cold yellow glass. Examine them with 
a magnifying glass, and note the beautifully formed crystals. 

(9) Float a small wooden box in water ; press downward 
upon it, and you can feel the resistance of the water. If 
a paper box be pressed into the water, the sides will be 
driven in. At sea, empty bottles of thin glass are tightly 
corked and sunk by means of a heavy weight; at a suffi- 
cient depth, the pressure of the water will break the bottles. 



EAST EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 293 

(10) Fill a long tube with, water ; make a hole near the 
bottom of the tube, and fit in a cork loosely. If the water 
in the tube be high enough, the pressure will force the cork 
out. Fit into the hole thus made a smaller tube, bending 
it so that it will be parallel to the larger. The water will 
rise to the same height in both tubes. The water supply 
of towns in a hilly country is often managed in this way : 
A large pipe of cast iron, called a standpipe, is built upon 
a hill, so that the level of the water in the pipe shall be 
above the points to which it is desired to force the water. 
The pipe is filled by pumping, and the pressure of the 
column in the standpipe is sufficient to force the water in 
the mains to the highest point of the service pipes. 

An iron ball is sometimes placed in the nozzle of a foun- 
tain. The pressure of the water will force the ball up and 
keep it in motion.' In all kinds of water mills, the energy 
of more or less rapidly moving bodies of water is utilized 
to do work. The simplest of water wheels is the old-fash- 
ioned overshot wheel. It has a series of flat surfaces, upon 
which the water falls, causing the wheel to move. A small 
wheel may be made easily by fastening wooden rings, two 
or three inches apart, upon an axle, then placing flat pieces 
of wood between them. 

(11) Take a glass jar and a cylinder of the same size, if 
possible. Close one end of the cylinder by tying a piece 
of sheet rubber over it. Fill both with water, and invert 
in a vessel filled with water. The water in the jar will not 
fall ; that in the cylinder will fall slightly, and the rubber 
bottom will be depressed. The water in the glass jar is 
protected from the weight of the column of air above it 
by the inflexible bottom. 

The pressure of the air upon the water in the vessel in 
which the jars are inverted is sufficient to sustain the 
column of water in the jar. The water falls slightly in the 
cylinder because the pressure of the air acts upon the rubber 
bottom, depressing it. 



294 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



(12) Fill a glass tube with, water, and, closing one end 
of the tube tightly with the finger, invert it in a vessel of 
water. The water in the tube does not fall. Take the 
finger from the top of the tube, and the water at once 
begins to fall. Why ? 

(13) Fill a tumbler partly full of water, and place a piece 
of heavy paper over it. Hold in place with the hand, and 
invert the tumbler. The water does not fall out. Why 
not? 

(14) Partly fill a bottle with water. Insert a cork tightly 
in the neck of the bottle, and pass a glass tube, drawn out 

slightly at one end, and fitting the cork 
tightly, nearly to the bottom of the bot- 
tle. Blow into the bottle, filling it as 
full of air as possible. When the mouth 
is removed, the water will be forced up 
through the tube. The air in the bottle 
is compressed, and the pressure forces 
the water out. 

The Principle of the Suction Pump. — 
The weight of the air at the sea level 
is about fifteen pounds to the square 
inch. Ordinarily this pressure is uni- 
form upon the surface of water. When 
the pressure is removed from any part 
of the surface, the pressure upon the 
remainder of the surface will cause the 
water to sink there and to rise where 
the pressure has been removed. In 
drawing water to the mouth through a straw, the cavity in 
the mouth is made larger so as to draw the air from the 
straw, and the water, owing to the pressure upon its general 
surface, rises in the cavity thus formed. The working of 
the ordinary suction pump may be easily explained. It 
consists essentially of a cylinder and a piston, each con- 
taining valves opening upward. When the piston is drawn 




EAST EXPERIMENTS IN PHTSICS 295 

up, the air in the cylinder is rarefied, and the water comes 
up into the cylinder through the valve (a) in the bottom. 

When the piston is forced down, the valve (a) closes by 
its own weight and the weight of the water above it, the 
valve (c) opens, and the water comes above the piston. As 
the piston is again raised, the- valve (c) closes (falls shut) ; 
the water escapes by the spout, and the cylinder is filled. 

The Mechanical Powers. — Boys and girls will find inter- 
esting and profitable recreation in testing the appliances 
known as the mechanical powers, and it would be well if 
all the ungraded schools were supplied with simple forms 
of these elements of machinery — the lever, the pulley, 
the wheel and axle, the inclined plane, the screw, and the 
wedge. 

To these might be added a set of simple pendulums. 
The explanation of the principle of the mechanical powers 
should be made by the teacher. It forms a very valuable 
contribution to general knowledge. Experiments with the 
appliances may be multiplied by the pupils in the intervals 
of school work. 

Machines are used to gain an intensity or velocity of 
motion, to change the direction of force, or to employ other 
forces than our own. A machine can perform no more work 
than is performed upon it. Indeed, it always performs less. 
If anything is gained in intensity, it is lost in velocity, dis- 
tance, or time. 

The power, multiplied by the distance through which it moves, 
is equal to the weight multiplied by the distance through which 
it moves. 

Thus a man may move a very heavy weight by a series of 
compound pulleys, but his strength is exerted for a much 
longer time than would be necessary to raise the weight a 
given distance, if the requisite amount of power were at 
hand. 

The power, multiplied by its velocity, is equal to the weight 
multiplied by its velocity. 



296 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

The Lever. — A lever is a rigid bar, free to move about a 
fixed point called the fulcrum. 

Levers are of three classes, according to the positions of 
the fulcrum, the weight, and the power. 

In levers of the first class, the fulcrum is between the 
weight and the power. Examples are the crowbar, steel- 
yard, pincers, and scissors. 

If the weight is between the power and fulcrum, the 
lever is of the second class ; as, for example, a nutcracker. 

If the power is between the weight and the fulcrum, the 
lever is of the third class. Such are tongs and sheep- 
shears. 

A lever may be easily made by taking a smooth bar of 
hard wood, dividing it by scale to tenths of an inch, and 
boring small holes in it, in which to fix the fulcrum. Small 
bags of shot may be used for weights. 

Experiments should be made to verify the laws of the 
lever. 

If the poiver arm be twice as long as the weight arm, 
the power will move tioice as fast (or twice as far) as the 
iveight. 

The Pulley. — A pulley is a wheel or a combination of 
wheels turning upon an axis and supporting a cord upon 
the circumference. The only advantage to be gained by a 
simple pulley (of one wheel) is that of direction. When 
a compound pulley (of more wheels than one) is used, 
intensity is gained at a loss of time or distance. The amount 
of gain depends upon the number of movable pulleys used, 
and the manner of application of the weight and power. 

When the pulley has a continuous cord, a given power 
will support as many times its own weight as there are 
loops of the rope coming back to the wheels of the mov- 
able block which bears the weight. Small pulleys may be 
obtained at any hardware store. The grooves should be 
smooth, the pulleys should turn easily upon their axles, and 
the cord should offer as little resistance as possible. 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 297 

The Inclined Plane. — An inclined plane is a smooth, hard, 
rigid surface inclined to the direction of the force to be 
overcome. When the power is applied in the direction of 
the plane, it will support as many times its own weight as 
the number of times the height of the plane is contained in 
its length. When the power is_ applied parallel to the base 
of the plane, it will support as many times its own weight 
as the times the vertical height of the plane is contained in 
its horizontal base. 

In verifying these laws, iron or lead balls may be used 
(both for power and for weight), and a cord that will offer 
the least resistance. 

The Wheel and Axle. — The wheel and axle is a modified 
lever, consisting of a cylinder and wheel united so that 
they may turn together. The power is applied to the wheel 
to gain intensity of power at a loss of velocity, or time 
at the expense of power. A windlass is a very common 
example. The general law of machines will apply as fol- 
lows: 

The power, multiplied by the distance through ivhich the 
poioer passes at one revolution of the wheel, is equal to the 
tveight multiplied by the distance through which the weight 
passes in one revolution of the axle. 

A fairly ingenious boy will find no difficulty in construct- 
ing all the simple machines. 

The Screw. — The screw is a cylinder with a spiral ridge 
upon it, called a thread, that works into a corresponding 
groove in the nut. A common letterpress or ciderpress 
is a good example. Power is generally applied by means 
of a lever, and at each turn of the lever the screw advances 
the distance between the threads. This machine gives great 
intensity of power with a great loss of velocity. 

A large bolt may be made to answer for the screw. In 
verifying the laws of machines, spring balances are neces- 
sary. These may be procured of any dealer in physical 
apparatus, while very satisfactory results may be obtained 



298 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

from the balances that can be bought at any hardware store. 
These will indicate the amount of power applied. 

The Law of Floating Bodies. — The story of Archimedes 
and the alleged golden crown of King Hiero 1 will tempt 
many a boy to make experiments similar to the one narrated. 
The principle upon which the story rests is, that a floating 
body displaces its own weight of liquid; or, in other words, it 
will sink into a liquid until it displaces a weight of the 
liquid equal to its own. 

(15) Obtain a vessel of any kind, provided with a spout, 
as in the figure. The axis of the spout should be nearly 
perpendicular to the side of the 
vessel. Fill the vessel until it 
overflows. When the overflow has 
stopped, place under the spout a 
vessel that has been previously 
weighed ; now weigh in air a block 
of wood or of ice, and place it in 
the water. An overflow will follow. Weigh the water that 
has been caught in the second vessel. Its weight will be 
found to be the same as the weight of the block in air. 
Perform the same experiment with lighter and heavier 
substances, and note the results. 

From this law it follows that anything will float that is 
lighter than the bulk of water displaced. This explains 
why the modern man-of-war, constructed almost entirely of 
iron, will float. 

1 According to Vitruvius (a Roman architect and writer who served 
under Julius Caesar), King Hiero, of Sicily, suspected that his crown of 
gold had been alloyed by a fraud of his jeweler, and asked the philosopher 
Archimedes to ascertain if this were true. As Archimedes threw himself 
into his bath tub, one day, the water ran over (since the tub was full), and 
he at once reflected that his body had displaced an equal bulk of water. 
By immersing the crown in water, and measuring the bulk of the fluid 
displaced, and by weighing the same bulk of pure gold, he was able to 
determine, when the alloyed crown was weighed, how much it lacked of 
the requisite weight of pure gold. When the plan first dawned upon his 
mind, he rushed from the bath tub, exclaiming in Greek, "Eureka! " 
(I have found it). 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 299 

Heat. — While heat is not a form of matter, as was once 
supposed, but rather a form of molecular vibration, we are 
apt to speak of it as though it were a substance of itself. 
A variety of simple and interesting experiments may be 
made, illustrative of the phenomena of heat. Among these 
are the following : 

(16) Fasten a number of wires upon a board, like the 
spokes of a wheel. These wires should be of different 
metals, as iron, copper, brass, German silver, etc. Place a 
lamp flame where the wires meet. After a few moments, 
run the fingers along the wires from the outside ends 
towards the flame. Note the difference in the rapidity with 
which the various wires conduct the heat. Make a table 
showing the relative conductivity of the wires. 

(17) Place a short, lighted candle in an ordinary milk 
pan at one side of the center. Cover the pan with a large 
cardboard, fitted as tightly as possible to the edge of the pan. 
Immediately over the candle there should be a number of 
small holes in a circle in the cardboard, and a similar circle 
near the other side of the pan. Place a lamp chimney over 
each of these circles. Hold a piece of smoking paper over 
the lamp chimney farthest from the candle ; the smoke will 
be drawn down through the chimney, through the pan, and 
out by way of the other chimney, by the force of the draft 
which the lighted candle causes. 

(18) Take a lamp chimney, a saucer, and a short piece 
of candle. Pour a little water into the saucer, and set the 
lighted candle in the middle. Place the chimney over the 
candle ; in a few minutes it will be extinguished. Place a 
cardboard partition in the chimney, and relight the candle ; 
it will continue burning. If a piece of smoking paper is 
held at one side of the chimney, it will be seen that there 
is a current of air down one side and up the other. These 
experiments illustrate the principles of ventilation. 

(19) Fasten a glass tube tightly in a bottle. Invert the 
tube, and place it in a vessel of colored water. Now heat 



300 SCHOOL BECEEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

the bottle, and bubbles will pass through the water, showing 
that the air has been expanded by the heat, and has sought 
an outlet through the water. If the heat is removed, the 
pressure of the air on the water in the vessel will force it 
part way up the tube. The air is rarer than before the heat 
was applied. 

(20) Take a test tube, partly filled with ether, and place 
it in a vessel of water at a temperature of 60° C. The ether 
will boil. The inference is that ether boils at a lower tem- 
perature than water. 

(21) Partly fill a thin glass flask with water, and heat the 
flask until the water boils. While it is boiling, cork the 
flask tightly. Invert the flask, and pour cold water on it. 
The water will boil violently, the air in the flask having 
been driven out by the steam. The steam is condensed by 
the application of cold water, leaving a partial vacuum in 
the flask. Does water boil at a lower temperature in a 
vacuum than in the air ? Why ? Pour hot water on the 
flask. Note the result, and explain it. 

(22) Water may be changed slowly into a vapor. The 
process is called evaporation. Wet a block of wood, and 
place it on a watch crystal half filled with ether. By means 
of a small bellows or a fan, cause the ether to evaporate 
rapidly. The crystal will be frozen to the block of wood. 

(23) Pour ether on the bulb of a thermometer and, by 
the same means as above, cause the ether to evaporate. 
The mercury will fall. Both experiments show that evap- 
oration is a cooling process. Extreme cold and pressure 
are used to liquefy gases, as carbonic acid gas or ammonia. 
When they are liberated they return to the form of a gas, 
absorbing a large amount of heat in so doing. This fact is 
made use of in the manufacture of artificial ice. 

(24) To illustrate the process of distillation, take a glass 
flask and fix in the mouth of it a glass tube, bent downward 
so that the water formed by the condensation of the steam 
may flow away. Have this tube pass through another, so 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 301 

that cold water may be in constant circulation about the 
delivery tube. Place a solution of salt and water in the 
flask, and heat slightly above the boiling point of water, 
212° F. The water will be vaporized ; the salt will remain. 
The vapor of water, passing through the cooled delivery 
tube, will be condensed again. Explain the process of dis- 
tillation, as used for commercial purposes. 

(25) Take two parts, by weight, of Glauber's salt, and 
dissolve in one part by weight of hot water ; cover the solu- 
tion with a thin layer of oil and allow it to cool, keeping it 
perfectly quiet. When the solution has cooled to the sur- 
rounding temperature, plunge a thermometer into it. Crys- 
tallization will begin at once, and the temperature will rise. 
Explain it. 

Certain metals (iron and bismuth are examples) contract 
by cooling to a certain point, and then expand — a phenom- 
enon that we have noticed in the formation of ice. These 
metals are used for making castings. Others (as lead and 
gold) do not expand at the moment of solidification, and 
have to be stamped or carved. 

Sound. — Following are a few simple experiments illus- 
trative of the phenomena of sound : 

(26) Stretch two fine cords between two supports, and 
add weights to each until they vibrate in unison. Then 
place little paper riders, made by bending a small piece of 
paper thus (shaped A), upon one of the strings. Set the 
other string in motion. The riders will be thrown off, 
showing that the vibration of one string produces a corre- 
sponding vibration in the other. Try the same experiment 
when the strings are not in unison, and carefully note the 
results. 

(27) Fix a bridge one fourth the distance from the end 
of the string. Place paper riders at intervals on the longer 
segment, and set the string to vibrating by touching the 
shorter segment. The riders at the points one half and 
three fourths the length of the string will remain; the 



302 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

others will be thrown off. The string vibrates between 
these nodes, or points of no vibration. 

(28) The same result may be observed by sounding, near 
a violin or guitar, a tuning fork, giving the same sound as 
one of the strings of the instrument, which also will vibrate. 
If the tone be changed to that of another string, the latter 
likewise will vibrate. 

Take a glass jar of small diameter and about twenty 
inches deep. Set a tuning fork to vibrating and place it 
over the mouth of the jar. A very faint sound is heard. 
Pour water into the jar slowly, and note the increase of 
intensity of the sound. 

If more water be poured into the jar, the intensity of the 
sound will be again diminished. The effect of the water is 
to shorten the column of air in the jar, until it will vibrate 
in unison with the fork, producing the maximum intensity 
of the sound. 

(29) Fill the same jar with water until a full sound is 
produced. Now turn the vibrating fork slowly in the hand, 
so that at one position the arms of the fork are in line, one 
above the other. In four positions of the fork there are 
loud, clear tones ; in four other positions the sound is very 
faint or entirely inaudible. These results are due to the 
reinforcement or interference of the sound waves. 

(30) Fasten to an ordinary gas jet a tube four or five 
inches long, having the top smaller than the bottom. When 
the gas is lighted there should be a small, round flame. 
Now lower a glass tube over the gas jet. Soon a point is 
reached where a faint sound is heard. This gradually 
increases as the tube is lowered, and becomes very loud 
and shrill. The flame is thrown into vibration by the cur- 
rent of air coming in at the bottom of the tube. The vibra- 
tion of the flame is transmitted to the column of air in the 
tube, producing the sound. 

(31) Press down the keys C, G, and C in the octave 
above middle C on the piano. Without releasing these 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 303 

keys, strike a quick hard blow upon C below middle C. 
The damper falling, the sound will cease almost immedi- 
ately, but a soft chord will be heard, caused by the vibra- 
tion of the other three strings whose dampers are raised. 
A vibrating string separates into segments, producing dif- 
ferent tones. The full vibration of the string produces the 
full, or fundamental, note. The vibrating segments produce 
overtones, or harmonics. In this experiment the C, G, C 
strings vibrate sympathetically with the overtones of the 
string that was struck. 

(32) Take a metal plate about six inches square, mounted 
on a small stand or support. Strew fine sand on the surface 
of the plate, and draw a violin bow across one edge. The 
sand will collect in irregular lines along the diagonals of 
the square. Many very beautiful patterns may be obtained. 

Light. — The more simple laws of light may be explained 
and illustrated by a number of pleasing experiments, among 
which the following are suggested : 

(33) Place a coin in a saucer, and stand back far enough 
so that the coin cannot be seen. Now pour water into the 
saucer, and the coin may be seen. The ray of light, passing 
from the water to the air, changes its direction downward. 
Hence we say that light, in passing from one medium to 
the other, is refracted, or changed in direction. This may 
be shown also by filling a glass dish with water, and allow- 
ing a sunbeam to fall on the surface. The ray of light will 
bend as it enters. 

In passing from the air into the water, a ray of light 
passes from a rarer medium to a denser. The following 
law of refraction may be deduced from these experiments : 

In passing from a denser to a rarer medium, the ray is bent 
away from a line perpendicular to the refracted surface. In 
passing from a rarer to a denser medium, the ray of light is 
refracted toward a line perpendicidar to the refracted surface. 

(34) Darken the room (where this can be done), leaving 
a small opening in the curtain to admit a single ray of light. 



804 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Allow the ray of light to pass through a prism, and it will 
be broken up into the seven primary colors. The drops of 
water upon which the sunlight falls during a shower act 
as prisms, separating the beams of light, and produce the 
rainbow. 

(35) Allow a ray of light to enter the room and fall upon 
a mirror. The ray will be reflected, and at the same angle 
at which it strikes the mirror. By this law we may explain 
why the image of an object in a mirror always appears as 
far behind the mirror as the object is in front of it. 

Let A be any object, and XY the surface of a mirror ; 
AM and AN, rays of light from the object to the mirror. 

The rays AM and AN are re- 
^s fleeted to the eye at B; but if 

\x //S the lines BM and BN are pro- 

- ^X^- y duced, they will meet at a point 

// A', back of the mirror. Now, 

AN is equal to AN; therefore, 
the image of A will appear as 
far behind XYas A itself is in front of it. 

Color is due to the quality of the light waves which 
illuminate an object, and not to any quality of the object 
itself ; and for any object to have a certain color, it must be 
capable of receiving light waves of that color, and also of 
absorbing or transmitting waves of other colors. 

(36) Procure two small tin boxes of equal capacity, one 
being bright, the other being covered with lampblack. 
Make an opening in the top of each, to admit a thermometer. 
Fill both with boiling water, and allow them to cool. The 
black one will be found to cool more rapidly. Then place 
the boxes in the sun or in front of the fire. The tempera- 
ture in the blackened box will rise more rapidly. We 
assume from this that a good radiator is also a good 
absorber. Dew is formed on certain objects that lose their 
heat by radiation, causing condensation of the watery vapor 
in contact with them. 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 305 

Electricity and Magnetism. — Electrical energy may be 
generated by friction, by chemical action, or by induction. 
Erictional electricity may be developed very easily, and 
often unconsciously. By simply scuffing the feet upon the 
carpet or rug, a person may sometimes generate sufficient 
electricity to light a gas jet. One's hair often crackles and 
is attracted or repelled when combed rapidly with a gutta- 
percha comb. A cat's back, rubbed in the dark, will emit 
sparks. 

(37) Take a thin sheet of gutta-percha about a foot 
square ; lay it upon a table, and rub it briskly with a cat's 
skin or other piece of fur. The table will become power- 
fully electrified. 

Hold the gutta-percha over the head of a person whose 
hair is dry ; the hair will be attracted by it. 

(38) On a tea tray put a sheet of gutta-percha and rub 
briskly with a piece of fur ; place the tray, the gutta-percha 
remaining on it, on a dry tumbler. Eemove the gutta- 
percha ; bring the knuckle near the tray, and a spark will 
be received. Put the gutta-percha back on the tray, and 
touch again with the knuckle. Another spark will be 
received. 

(39) Take a glass tube (a straight lamp chimney will do) 
and rub it briskly with a piece of silk. Bend a glass tube, 
and from the bent arm suspend by silk threads a couple of 
balls of elder pith. Present the glass tube to the balls. 
They will be attracted, and then repelled. 

(40) Electrify a stick of sealing wax, and present it to 
the balls. The same action will be noticed. Touch one 
ball with the glass, and the other with the wax. The balls, 
instead of repelling each other, are attracted. 

(41) Make an insulated stool by placing a dry board upon 
four dry glass tumblers. Let one boy stand upon this stool, 
and another upon the floor. Strike the latter several times 
with a piece of fur. If the two boys bring their knuckles 
together, a spark will pass from one to the other. 

SCH. REC. & AMUS. — 20 



306 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

(42) To generate electricity by chemical action, take a 
tumbler two thirds full of water, and add to it two or three 
tablespoonfuls of strong sulphuric acid. Place a strip of 
sheet copper and a piece of zinc (each about five inches long 
and one and one half inches wide) in the solution, having 
previously soldered a piece of ISTo. 16 copper wire (about 
twelve inches long) to each piece of metal. If the ends of 
the wire are rubbed together in a darkened room, a small 
spark may be observed. 

(43) Place a magnetic needle near the tumbler. Hold 
the wires so that the current will pass in the same direction 
as the needle ; vary the position of the current, the wire, and 
the needle, and note the results. A magnetic needle may 
be made by magnetizing a steel needle and suspending it 
from a silk thread fastened in the middle of it. 

(44) Place a large iron nail in a vessel of iron filings. 
None of the particles of iron will adhere to it. Wrap a 
paper around the nail, leaving the ends exposed, and wind 
around it twenty or more turns of copper wire, being care- 
ful that the coils do not touch each other. Connect this 
wire with the zinc and copper, so that there will be a con- 
tinuous connection. Put one end of the nail into the filings ; 
when the nail is taken out, the filings will adhere to it. 

The best batteries for school use are the Daniells and 
Grenet cells. The former consist of zinc and copper ele- 
ments. The zinc is suspended in a porous cup, partly filled 
with water, to which a little zinc sulphate is added, to 
hasten the action of the battery. Outside the porous cup is 
a thin cylinder of copper, immersed in a saturated solution 
of copper sulphate. In a pocket near the top of the cylin- 
der, a few lumps of copper sulphate are placed. These are 
gradually dissolved, to take the place of that consumed by 
the action of the battery. The battery requires very little 
attention, and gives a comparatively constant current. 

The Grenet battery consists of two pieces of carbon and 
one of zinc. The zinc should be fastened to a sliding rod, 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 307 

so that it may be drawn up out of the liquid when the bat- 
tery is not in use. The liquid for the battery may be made 
by mixing one gallon of water, one pound of bichromate of 
potash, and from half a pint to a pint of sulphuric acid. 
The zincs should be well amalgamated, and always should 
be taken out of the liquid when the battery is not in use. 
The battery is very energetic, and well adapted for school 
use. A battery of six of these cells will be sufficient to 
perform many of the ordinary experiments in electricity. 

(45) For a simple experiment in magnetism, take two 
stout darning needles that have been magnetized by draw- 
ing them several times, in the same direction, over the pole 
of a powerful electro-magnet. Suspend these needles a few 
feet from each other by fine silk threads. They will take 
the same position, a north and south one, the poles lying in 
the same direction. Bring the points of the needles near 
to each other ; bring the eyes near to each other ; bring a 
point and an eye together, and note the results. 

(46) Place a horseshoe magnet under a pane of glass and 
close to it. Sprinkle fine iron filings over the plate, tap- 
ping it gently to assist the arrangement of the filings. 
Perform the same experiment using a bar magnet. Note 
the results. The lines about which the filings arrange 
themselves are called lines of magnetic force. Lay a bar 
magnet in a vessel of iron filings. Remove the magnet, 
and the filings will cling to the end, while the center of the 
magnet will be free from them. 

(47) Magnetize a steel knitting needle, and the same 
action will be observed. Break the needle in two; each 
part will be found to be a magnet. 

(48) Take a coil of wire and fasten one end, allowing the 
other to touch the surface of a cup of mercury. Pass a 
current through the coil. The current is nearly parallel to 
itself, and causes a contraction of the coil. As soon as the 
end is removed from the mercury, the current is broken and 
the coil drops down again. 



308 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Small electric lights, telegraph keys and sounders, small 
motors, electric bells, and insulated wire will furnish an 
almost endless field for the illustration of the principles 
of electricity as applied to modern conveniences. With a 
small class of boys interested in the subject, and willing 
(as most of them are) to contribute of their pocket money 
for these things, a partial working laboratory is within the 
grasp of every teacher. 

Miscellaneous Experiments and Suggestions. — (49) Fill 
three jars, one with water, one with a strong solution of 
salt, the third with a solution of salt of an intermediate 
density (to be determined by experiment). An egg placed 
in the first solution will sink ; placed in the second, it will 
float. The third solution may be made of such density 
that the egg will remain poised in any position in which 
it may be placed. 

(50) Moat two sewing needles on water, placing them 
parallel and quite close together. Let fall a drop of alcohol 
between them, and they will fly apart. 

(51) Wet a piece of parchment paper, and tie it over the 
end of a glass tube. Fill the tube partly with a solution 
of copper sulphate, and immerse in a tumbler of water so 
that the water is at the same line in both tube and tumbler. 
In a short time the water in the tube will have risen and 
the water in the tumbler will be colored blue, showing that 
the liquids have changed places. 

(52) The porosity of a brick may be shown by placing 
two funnels with their large openings on opposite sides of 
the brick. Place a lighted candle at the smaller opening 
of one funnel. Hold both funnels tightly against the brick, 
and blow in the small end of the one opposite the candle. 
The candle will be extinguished. 

Explain the theory of the transmission of light and sound 
by waves, the common medium of the transmission of sound 
being air, the medium of the transmission of light being 
ether. Sound and light travel in waves ; that is, they pro- 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN PHYSICS 309 

duce a vibratory motion of the medium through which they 
pass. The intensity of sound waves depends upon the den- 
sity of the medium, and upon the distance from the source 
of the sound. Sound waves travel in the air at the rate 
of about 1140 feet per second; in water four times, and 
in iron fifteen times as fast. Sound may be refracted or 
reflected. Echoes are produced by the reflection of sound. 
The sounds of musical instruments are produced by vibra- 
tion. 

In wind instruments the vibrating body is a column of 
air ; in the reed and stringed instruments, the sound is 
produced by the vibration of the reeds and. strings. Good 
examples of these are the pipe organ, the clarinet, and the 
guitar or piano. 

Luminous bodies give off light in every direction. In a 
medium of the same density, light travels in straight lines. 
The intensity of light decreases as the square of the dis- 
tance from its source. 

Light travels at the rate of about 186,000 miles per second. 
The difference between the velocities of light and sound 
are well exemplified in the shooting of a gun or the blow- 
ing of a whistle. A person at a distance will see the smoke 
from the gun before he hears the report, and the steam from 
the whistle before he hears the sound. 

To enter into a detailed description of apparatus would 
be beyond the limits of this chapter. A skillful carpenter 
or blacksmith can make many of the instruments required, 
at a very moderate cost. The best way, if possible, is for 
the pupils to make their own apparatus for simple experi- 
ments. The value of experimentation lies rather in the 
habits of observation and discovery to which it leads, and 
the acquirement of a method of logical and scientific 
investigation, than in the difficulty or brilliancy of the 
experiments themselves. 



CHAPTER XIII 
EASY EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY 

Origin of the Science. — Chemistry is one of the newer 
sciences, but has been brought to a marvelous degree of 
advancement within the past half century, and especially 
within recent years. Its history is possessed of peculiar 
and romantic interest, and for this reason a brief account of 
its origin is given here. 

The word " Chemistry " is derived from the G-reek, and the 
earliest meaning seems to have referred to the production of 
gold and silver from the baser metals, which was long sup- 
posed to be possible. This idea is a very old one, for Zosi- 
mus, the Panopolite, writing in the fifth century, implies 
that this art had been known long before his time, and 
probably had been brought from Egypt. Prom the Greeks, 
at Constantinople, the idea came into the possession of the 
Arabs. Under the general name of alchemy they seem to 
have grouped something of the sciences of chemistry, 
physics, and medicine. It was known as "the black art," 
and its practice presupposed a contract with the powers of 
the lower world. 

The idea of the philosopher's stone, which by contact 
would change the baser metals into gold, passed into Europe 
early in the middle ages ; and, from the number of books 
upon the subject, it must have been popular, at least with 
those who had a taste for dangerous speculation. Some of 
the strange stories that have come down to us were form- 
erly received with implicit confidence. 

310 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY 311 

Man get, a famous Swiss scientist of the last century, 
quotes, on the authority of Mr. Gros (a clergyman of 
Geneva), the following: 

About 1650 an unknown Italian came to Geneva and took lodgings 
at the Green Cross. After remaining a day or two, he requested his 
landlord to furnish him a guide acquainted with Italian, who could 
show him the objects of interest in the town. He was referred to Mr. 
Gros, then a student, about twenty years of age. After a fortnight, 
the Italian began to complain of lack of money, and finally asked Mr. 
Gros if he knew any goldsmith whose bellows and other utensils they 
could borrow. Mr. Gros named one, and the Italian procured from 
him crucibles, pure tin, quicksilver, and other necessary articles. The 
goldsmith left the shop, in order that the Italian might work under 
less restraint, one workman and Mr. Gros remaining as attendants. 
The Italian put a quantity of tin in one crucible, and a quantity of 
quicksilver in another. The tin was melted, and the quicksilver 
heated. The latter was then poured into the melted tin, and a 
quantity of red powder, inclosed in wax, was projected into the 
amalgam. An agitation took place, and a great deal of smoke rose 
from the crucible. This subsiding, the contents were poured out, 
forming six heavy ingots having the appearance of gold. The gold- 
smith, being called in, subjected the metal to the most complete tests. 
It possessed all of the properties of pure gold. From the master of 
the mint, the Italian received Spanish coins equal in weight to the 
ingots. To Mr. Gros he gave twenty pieces, and to the landlord fifteen 
more, to pay for a supper he was to eat with them. He then left the 
house, promising to return, but was never seen again. 

Louis XI of France took potable, or liquid, gold as a 
remedy for his many ills. Friar Bacon was supposed also 
to have discovered the philosopher's stone, in which, as well 
as in astrology, he was a firm believer. The great secret 
the alchemists sought was the ability to prolong human life 
indefinitely, to the theory of which project Bacon was much 
attached. On one occasion he informed Pope Nicholas of 
an old man who found a golden phial containing a yellow 
liquid, while plowing on his farm in Sicily. The farmer 
drank the liquid and was, it is said, at once changed into a 
healthy, handsome, and accomplished youth. 



312 SCHOOL BEGREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Gebir, an Arabian alchemist, held that the original ele- 
ments were mercury, sulphur, and arsenic. Of these, 
mercury and sulphur seem to have been the most interest- 
ing to the philosophers. 

One of the most famous alchemists was Paracelsus, who 
was born near Zurich, about the end of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. He made many interesting researches, and discovered 
the properties and methods of preparation of many of the 
metals. During the eighteenth century the science of chem- 
istry made a decided step forward, owing to the discoveries 
of G-eoffroy, Boerhaave, Scheele, and Lavoisier ; but until the 
publication of Dalton's new system of chemical philosophy, 
in 1810, the science of chemistry consisted principally of 
the discoveries of separate investigators. Dalton's atomic 
theory elevated chemistry to a science, but its progress has 
been so rapid that the theory of Dalton is no longer tenable 
in its entirety. New discoveries and new relations have 
given rise to modified theories, but the science of chemistry 
is as yet in a stage of transition. With these theories, how- 
ever, the explanation of the simpler phenomena of chemistry 
has little to do, there being many interesting experiments 
that are capable of explanation and that will serve to give 
the pupil an interest in this fascinating subject. 

Experimental Lessons in Chemistry. — Presuming that 
chemistry, like physics, is to be taught in some form more 
generally than heretofore in the schools of the various 
grades, it is of course highly important that the teacher 
have the tact as well as the knowledge to adapt the instruc- 
tion to the age and advancement of the pupils under his 
supervision. Following herewith are a few suggestive les- 
sons of a general character, which may be variously adapted, 
according to the grade and the circumstances of the school. 

Requisite Materials. — Laboratories and appliances for 
work in chemistry may be obtained at much less trouble 
and expense than similar equipments in physics. An alco- 
hol lamp (where gas cannot be had), a ring stand, half a 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY 313 

dozen test tubes, of assorted sizes, the same number of 
flasks and of rubber stoppers or common corks, a few feet 
each of rubber tubing and of glass tubing, four or five wide- 
mouthed jars, a porcelain evaporating dish, a- piece of wire 
gauze, and half a dozen glass-stoppered bottles are about 
all that is necessary in the way of individual apparatus. 
For general class use, metric rules, graduates and scales, 
filter papers, blow pipes, platinum wire, crucibles, and 
thistle or funnel tubes should be added. The chemicals 
may be purchased at a small cost from any large supply 
house. 

Scientific Terms. — Where scientific terms are used, care 
should be taken that they convey a precise and correct 
meaning. A few examples will illustrate this. 

Matter is composed of molecules, and molecules are made 
up of atoms. 

An atom is the smallest particle of matter that can enter 
into combination to form a compound. A molecule is the 
smallest portion of the compound thus formed. 

An elementary substance, or element, is a substance which 
cannot be separated into two or more essentially different 
kinds of matter ; as, for instance, iron, gold, silver, oxygen, 
hydrogen, etc. 

A chemical compound is a union of two or more elements 
to form a substance distinct from either. Thus water is a 
compound of hydrogen and oxygen, a molecule of water 
containing two atoms of the former and one of the latter. 

A mixture is a mass of two or more ingredients, the par- 
ticles of which are not chemically compounded with each 
other, however thoroughly and finely they may be com- 
mingled. Thus the air is a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, 
and argon, with a small amount of carbon dioxide. 

Organic substances are those which have been formed of 
animal or vegetable life. Bone and cotton are organic. 

Chemical affinity is the attraction between atoms of differ- 
ent kinds by which they form compounds. The compound 



314 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

is the normal state of matter, the uncompound forms being 
rarely found. Chemical combination may be illustrated by 
a simple experiment, as follows : 

Pulverize separately a teaspoonful of loaf sugar and chlo- 
rate of potash, mix them on a porcelain plate, and let fall 
a drop of sulphuric acid from the end of a glass rod, upon 
the mixture. It will ignite immediately, and the substance 
that remains will be neither sugar nor potash, but a com- 
pound. 

Chemical attraction is effected only at insensible distances, 
and is most energetic between dissimilar substances. 

Physical and Chemical Changes. — A physical change is 
one that does not alter the composition of the molecule ; 
a chemical change is one that changes the composition of 
the molecule, and therefore changes the nature of the sub- 
stance. Water may be frozen into solid blocks of ice or 
dissipated into a gas in the form of steam. These changes 
are physical and not chemical, since the composition of the 
molecules is not altered by them. A piece of iron may be 
raised to a white heat or cooled to a very low temperature, 
may be melted, welded, magnetized, and subjected to various 
other processes, without losing its identity as an elementary 
substance. When any part of it is converted into rust, by 
uniting chemically with the oxygen of the air, there is a 
chemical change, for the molecules of the new substance 
thus formed combine atoms of different nature. 

Examples of Chemical Changes. — Chemical changes are 
often startling in their phenomena. Solids sometimes com- 
bine to form liquids, and liquids to form solids. Colorless 
liquids are combined. to form other liquids of deep or bril- 
liant colors. A few illustrations of the radical changes 
caused by chemical reactions will be of interest even to 
pupils who are not sufficiently advanced to understand fully 
the nature of the reactions. The following are a few such 
examples, which will serve in a general way to illustrate 
chemical changes. 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY 



315 



Place in a mortar two parts, by weight, of sodium sul- 
phate and one part, by weight, of potassium carbonate. 
Bub them together, and the two solids will form a liquid. 

Dissolve five or six lumps of sugar in a glass, with as 
little warm water as possible. Place the glass upon a large 
plate and pour into it, slowly, strong sulphuric acid, stirring 
the mixture with a glass rod at the same time. The result 
is a black, porous solid. 

Take four small glasses, and into one put a solution of 
silver nitrate ; into the second, a solution of lead nitrate ; 
into the third, chlorine water to which a dilute solution of 
freshly prepared starch has been added ; into the fourth, a 
solution of corrosive sublimate. 

Each solution will be as clear as water. Make a solution 
of iodide of potassium, and put a few drops into 'each 
glass. Yellow, orange, blue, and scarlet solutions will be 
formed. 

The Separation of Water into its Elements. — The compo- 
sition of water may be shown by the following experiment : 

Take a wide-mouthed bottle and cut 
it in two, put a paraffined cork tightly 
in the mouth of the bottle, and through 
the cork run the two copper wires. 
Pasten a small plate of plati- 
num, about one inch long and \ 
one half inch wide, on the end ->> 
of each wire. Fill the vessel c ^X-~ 
nearly full of water, to which 
about one tenth of its volume of sul- 
phuric acid has been added. Pill two 
test tubes with acidulated water, and 
invert them in the vessel. They may 
be separated by bending a piece of copper wire so that 
the openings will as nearly fit the tubes as possible (see 
Figure). The tubes may then be supported in the wires 
by fastening rubber bands about them. Attach the wires 




316 SCHOOL RECUSATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

to a couple of cells of a battery in series, and bring the 
platinum plates into tbe mouths of the tubes. Bubbles 
will be given off the plates, and the water will be pressed 
down. 

Remove the first tube by placing the thumb over the 
mouth of it, to prevent the escape of the gas. Invert the 
tube, and apply a lighted match to it; a slight explosion 
will follow. Remove the other tube in the same way, and 
insert in the mouth of it a thin splinter with a spark on the 
end ; the splinter will take fire and burn brilliantly. The 
water in the vessel has been separated into two gases, 
oxygen and hydrogen. 

Experiments with Oxygen. — Experiments with oxygen 
are nearly all interesting and valuable. 

To make oxygen, take some crystals of potassium chlo- 
rate and, without pulverizing, mix with the same weight of 
black oxide of manganese. Put the mixture into a test 
tube, having the cork fit tightly, and into the cork insert a 
delivery tube. Fill several wide-mouthed bottles with water 
and put them, mouth downward, into a receiver partly filled 
with water, so that the mouths of the bottles will be below the 
surface of the liquid. A convenient receiver may be made 
from a square tin pan, four or five inches deep. Make a shelf 
of tin, four inches wide, bending it so that the shelf will 
be about three inches under water. Cut holes into the tin 
shelf, so that the mouths of the delivery tubes may be 
inserted through it into the mouths of the bottles. Now 
slowly heat the mixture in the test tube, and a gas will be 
given off and collected in the bottles. Remove the delivery 
tubes from the water as soon as the heat is taken away. 
Remove the bottles from the receiver, covering the mouths, 
while still nnder water, with plates of glass. 

Take a short piece of crayon, hollow out the end, and 
wrap a wire tightly around it, to serve as a handle. In the 
hollow, place a small piece of sulphur. Ignite it by hold- 
ing it in a flame. Then put the burning sulphur into one 



EAST EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY 317 

of the bottles of oxygen. Compare the flame of sulphur 
in oxygen with the flame in air. 

Take a piece of iron picture cord wire, and hold one end 
in the flame for a moment, then dip it into some sulphur. 
Enough sulphur will adhere to the wire to burn when the 
wire is again held in the flame. Place the wire in oxygen ; 
it will burn, giving off bright sparks. 

The compounds of oxygen with other elements are called 
oxides. Oxygen is very widely distributed, and is very 
active in combination. It is a transparent, odorless, taste- 
less, colorless gas. It has been liquefied by subjecting it to 
high pressure and low temperature. It is the supporter of 
animal life and of combustion. 

Experiments with Hydrogen. — Experiments with hydrogen 
require some care, in view of the liability of the gas to explode 
in air. The following familiar experiments are of great 
interest to pupils. Take a bottle of thick glass, eight or ten 
inches high, and fit into it tightly a rubber cork (or an 
ordinary cork of fine grain will answer). Arrange a deliv- 
ery tube and bottles, as in previous experiments ; put some 
pieces of sheet zinc (or, better, granulated zinc) into the 
bottle, and pour in water until it is about a quarter full. Put 
a funnel tube, or glass tube in which a funnel may be placed, 
through the cork, and let the bottom of it extend a little 
way into the water. Pour hydrochloric acid slowly through 
this tube, and the gas will be generated rapidly. In using 
the receivers filled with hydrogen, be careful to hold them 
bottom upward, and do not have the receivers too large, as 
hydrogen mixed with air is violently explosive. 

If a lighted match is placed at the mouth of the receiver 
and an explosion occurs, the gas is mixed with the air ; but 
if the gas burns quietly, it is pure. 

Take two large test tubes of the same size, and fill one of 
them with hydrogen. Hold both of them inverted, and 
bring the mouth of the one containing hydrogen close to 
the mouth of the other, inclining it gradually until it is 



318 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

upright. A test will show that the tube which coutaiued 
hydrogen now contains air, and that the hydrogen has dis- 
placed the air in the other vessel. The hydrogen has been 
poured upward. 

Fill a rubber gas bag with hydrogen, then attach one end 
of a rubber delivery tnbe to the bag, and the other end to a 
common clay pipe. Regulate the flow of gas by a stopcock. 
Make a solution of white castile soap in warm water, and 
add half its volume of glycerine. Place the pipe, mouth 
downward, in this solution, and, as soon as the film has 
formed over the mouth, raise the pipe. The bubble will 
expand, break away, and rise like a balloon. Have some 
one touch the bubbles with a lighted candle, and notice the 
explosion. Do not bring the candle near to the mouth of 
the pipe. 

Hydrogen is transparent, colorless, odorless, and tasteless ; 
it is fourteen and one half times lighter than air, and eleven 
thousand times lighter than water. 

Take the delivery tube from the generator, and replace it 
by a straight tube drawn out at the end to form a jet. Test 
the gas until sure that it is not mixed with air, then light it 
as it escapes from the jet. Hold over the flame a clear, dry, 
cold tumbler. In a few moments the glass will be dimmed 
with a sort of vapor. By condensation this will be found 
to be water. Hold a glass tube over the flame ; move it up 
or down, and a position will be found where the flame gives 
out a musical note. If the experiment does not succeed at 
first, vary the size and length of the tube. 

Experiments with Nitrogen. — The peculiarly negative char- 
acter of nitrogen may be illustrated as follows : 

Place a piece of phosphorus upon a porcelain dish. Ignite 
the phosphorus, and place over it an inverted glass bottle. 
As the phosphorus burns, it will take up the oxygen from 
the air contained in the bottle, leaving nitrogen behind. By 
applying a lighted match or dipping a burning splinter in 
the gas, it will be found neither to burn nor to support com- 



EAST EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRT 319 

bustion. It is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It combines 
directly with very few elements. It is not poisonous, but 
does not support life. It is found indirectly combined in 
very many forms. 

Carbon Dioxide. — Carbonic acid gas, more correctly called 
carbon dioxide, is of special interest in view of its relation 
to hygiene. Following are a few experiments with this gas. 

Take a glass bottle in which a few small pieces of marble 
are placed ; cork the bottle tightly, and put a tight-fitting 
glass tube through the cork, the other end of the tube rest- 
ing in a tumbler or any convenient jar. Remove the cork 
of the first bottle, and pour in some hydrochloric acid. A 
gas will be evolved immediately. The gas is one and one 
half times heavier than air, and hence will remain at the 
bottom of the receiver. It may be poured out and down, as 
water is poured. Thrust a burning match into the receiver, 
and it will be extinguished. Pour the gas from one tum- 
bler into another, using the same test to determine that the 
second tumbler contains the gas. A lighted candle may be 
extinguished by pouring the gas upon it. 

Put a few pieces of slacked lime into a bottle, and pour 
water on them ; shake the bottle well and let the liquid 
settle ; pour off the pure liquid (lime water), and keep in 
a tightly corked bottle. 

Take a little lime water, and pass carbonic acid gas 
through it; a white precipitate will be formed, and, if 
allowed, will settle to the bottom. This is calcium carbo- 
nate, a substance of the same kind as that from which the 
gas was made. 

Take another tumbler of lime water, and with a tube blow 
the breath into it for some time ; a white precipitate will be 
formed, showing that the carbonic acid gas is present in the 
air coming from the lungs. 

Expose some lime water to the air for a day or longer ; a 
white scum on the surface shows that carbonic acid gas is 
present in the air. 



320 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Make a small loop in the end of a piece of wire ; dip the 
wire into the lime water, and, on withdrawing it, a drop will 
cling to the loop. Hold this above the flame of a candle ; in 
a few moments it will have a milky appearance, showing that 
carbonic acid gas is a product of combustion. 

Absorption of Gases. — The absorption of gases may be 
illustrated by a simple experiment. Take a glass tube, 
about one half inch in diameter, cork one end tightly, and 
through the cork run another small tube, to which a piece 
of rubber tubing may be attached. Arrange a flask in the 
same manner, and to the small tube in the cork of the flask 
attach the other end of the rubber tube. Fill the flask with 
carbonic acid gas, and put the unattached end of the tube in 
a tumbler of water ; heat strongly one or two pieces of char- 
coal, drop them in the flask, and cork it quickly. If the 
connections are tight, the water will rise in the tube. This 
is caused by the partial vacuum made by the charcoal absorb- 
ing the carbonic acid gas. 

"Weighing Gases. — The comparative gravities of gases 
may be indicated with very simple apparatus. Arrange a 
balance of wire, if no other can be had, making a scale of 
cardboard or paper, cutting it into a conical disk. Upon 
the other end of the balance place a paper box about five 
inches square ; add weights until the sides balance. Pour 
carbonic acid gas into the box, and it will descend immedi- 
ately. Now invert the box, and pour into it, upward, some 
hydrogen gas ; the box will rise. 

Chlorine. — Chlorine is especially interesting as an element 
of common salt (sodium chloride). Chlorine can be made 
by taking equal parts, by weight, of black oxide of manga- 
nese and common salt. Make a mixture of sulphuric acid 
and water, twelve parts of acid and six parts of water. 
When this mixture has become cool, pour it over the salt 
and oxide of manganese ; arrange delivery tubes as in the 
previous experiment, and collect a number of bottles of gas 
and cover them with greasy glass plates. 



EAST EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRT 321 

Into one of the bottles of chlorine pnt a moistened piece 
of colored calico, and notice the change of colors. 

In a darkened room prepare a solution of hydrogen and 
chlorine, in two bottles. Wrap towels around the bottles, 
to guard against accidents ; then bring one of the bottles 
into the bright sunlight. Take away the towel, and the sun- 
light will cause an explosion of the mixed gases. Apply a 
flame to the mouth of the other bottle, and the mixed gases 
will combine with an explosion. 

Chlorine water may be prepared by passing the gas directly 
into the water. 

Fill four or five bottles with chlorine water, and pour into 
the different bottles different colored solutions — as indigo, 
litmus, cochineal, and aniline dyes of different colors — and 
note the results. 

Chlorine in the form of chloride of lime is used largely as 
a disinfectant, and in manufacturing. 

Chlorine is a greenish yellow gas, with a suffocating odor ; 
and all experiments with it should be performed in a draft, 
the teacher being particularly careful not to breathe the gas. 
As the gas is two and one half times heavier than air, it may 
be collected by downward displacement. 

Acids, Bases, and Salts. — An acid is a compound con- 
taining hydrogen, which is easily replaced by metal or a 
compound of a metal called the base. A base is a substance 
containing a metal combined with oxygen and hydrogen. 
The products of the action of acids on bases are called salts. 
The more common acids are nitric, sulphuric, and hydro- 
chloric; the more common bases are sodium, potassium, and 
calcium hydroxides. 

Carbon. — Every living thing contains carbon as an essen- 
tial element. The number of its compounds is almost infi- 
nite. Uncombined, it occurs pure in two widely different 
substances, the diamond and graphite. Almost nothing is 
known of the conditions that give rise to their formation. 
When heated to a high temperature without access to air, 
sch. rec. & amcs. — 21 



322 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

the diamond swells and is converted into a black mass with- 
out loss of weight ; heated in oxygen, it burns up, forming 
carbon dioxide. Graphite is found in nature in large quan- 
tities. It is used in making lead pencils and as a lubricant. 
Charcoal is made by heating wood without access to air. 
Lampblack is a form of carbon collected on a surface from 
the flame of burning oils. Coal has been formed by the 
decomposition of vegetable matter without much access 
to air. Under ordinary temperatures carbon does not form 
combinations, but at high temperatures it combines readily 
with oxygen. It is found in combination with several ele- 
ments. Carbon in the form of carbon dioxide forms a large 
part of the food of plants. Carbon dioxide is given off in 
the exhaled breath of animals, and is one of the products 
of combustion. The foliage of plants takes up the carbon 
dioxide of the air, and incorporates it in the body of the 
plant. When life ceases in animals or plants, a product of 
decomposition is carbon dioxide. 

Iodine. — Iodine is a blue-black crystalline solid. Its 
vapor is the heaviest known, and is of a beautiful violet 
color. It may be seen by placing some crystals of iodine 
on a heated brick, and covering them with an inverted glass 
jar. Iodine is found in sea water, and is made from the 
ashes of seaweed. It may be used as a test for starch in 
the following experiments : 

Take a tumbler half filled with water, to which a few 
drops , of tincture of iodine or a small crystal of iodine has 
been added. There is no marked change in the color ; now 
add a teaspoonful of thin starch paste, and the whole solu- 
tion will take a deep blue color. This is a characteristic 
test for starch. Scrape a potato and pour boiling water 
upon it ; then pour a little of this water into a solution of 
iodine. The blue color will indicate the presence of starch. 
Other foods may be tested for starch in the same Avay. 

The colors of the various iodine compounds are thus shown : 
Dissolve a crystal of iodine in some alcohol, and pour a 



EAST EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY 323 

few drops of this solution into a tumbler of water. Add 
to this a little carbon disulphide ; it will be colored a purple 
red. Take three tall glass jars, and nearly fill each with 
water. Put a few drops of solution of potassium iodine into 
each jar ; to the first add a few drops of solution of corro- 
sive sublimate, to the second a solution of mercurous nitrate, 
to the third a solution of sugar of lead. Scarlet, yellowish 
green, and brilliant yellow solutions will be formed. 

Detonating powder may be formed as follows : 

Take a little pulverized iodine ; put it into a small dish, 
and pour strong ammonia over it; cover, and allow.it to 
stand twenty minutes. Stir up the powder in the bottom 
of the dish, and filter through five or six filter papers. 
Wash the powder well with water, and, when the liquid has 
been filtered away, remove the papers and pin them to a 
piece of board, allowing them to dry without heating. When 
the powder is dry it may be exploded by brushing it with a 
feather or simply by jarring it. Only a very small amount 
of this powder should be made at one time, and great care 
should be taken in reference to it. 

An Experiment in Combustion. — To the familiar phe- 
nomena of combustion may be added some especially inter- 
esting examples, as in the following experiment : 

Obtain some powdered potassium chloride, and with the 
fingers and a piece of paper mix it thoroughly with an equal 
bulk of powdered sugar. With this mixture form on a 
platter a connected design, as a star, a heart, or a word. 
From the end of a glass rod let fall a drop of sulphuric 
acid on the mixture ; a vivid combustion will follow, and, 
after the combustion, the design will be found as a black 
incrustation. This experiment should be performed with 
great care. 

Absorption and Loss of Moisture. — The properties of 
liquefaction (turning to liquid through the absorption of 
moisture), and of giving out moisture (the result being a 
crumbling to powder) may be illustrated as follows : 



324 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Expose a few pieces of calcium chloride to the air ; in a 
short time they will have absorbed sufficient moisture to 
dissolve them completely. 

In the same way expose a crystal of washing soda to the 
air, and it will lose moisture and crumble to fine powder. 

The experiment may be made more interesting if both 
the calcium chloride and the washing soda are exposed to 
the air at the same time or while in the same vessel. The 
one will dissolve, and the other will change to powder. 
The natural supposition is that the moisture to dissolve 
the calcium chloride came from the soda. 

Filtration. — The process and results of filtration may be 
thus illustrated: 

Take a funnel, fit into it a folded filter paper, and half 
fill with powdered charcoal ; make a solution of indigo and 
filter this through the charcoal. If this be carefully done, 
the filtered water will be colorless. 

Next filter a solution of quinine or an extract of hops 
through charcoal ; the bitter taste will be partly, if not 
entirely, removed. 

Etching on Glass. — Names and other devices may be 
etched on glass by covering the glass with a thin layer of 
wax, and scratching, with a sharp point on the surface of the 
wax, the design to be etched, being careful that the point 
penetrates to the surface of the glass. Make a small tray 
of sheet lead, or take an old dish, and place in it some 
powdered fluor spar. Pour enough sulphuric acid over it to 
make fine paste, and put the glass plate, wax down, over the 
dish and warm gently ; then set it away in a warm place 
for two or three hours. Scrape the wax off the glass, and 
clean it by rubbing with turpentine or alcohol, and the 
design will be found upon it. 

How Crystals are deposited. — Dissolve five to eight grains 
of lead acetate in a glass of water, and suspend in it an 
irregular piece of sheet zinc ; the sheet will soon be covered 
with crystalline spangles of metallic lead. On account of 



EASY EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY 325 

the shape of the deposited lead, it is known as " the lead 
tree." Similarly, a piece of steel, if immersed for a few 
moments in a solution of copper sulphate, will be covered 
with a deposit of copper. 

Torpedoes. — Take a very small crystal of potassium chlo- 
ride and a piece of sulphur the same size, and grind them 
together in a mortar with a porcelain pestle. A series 
of sharp explosions will follow. These chemicals mixed 
with gravel and wrapped in tissue paper make the torpedo. 

To make and destroy Colors. — Add enough potassium 
permanganate to a pitcher of water to give it a decided 
red color. Make a strong solution of ferrous sulphate, and 
put a small amount in a glass containing a little sulphuric 
acid. Pour the pitcher solution in the glass, and the color 
will be destroyed. By experiment the colors may be 
changed or destroyed at will. 

Acid Tests. — Take a few pieces of litmus, and dissolve 
in hot water. Color the water in a glass pitcher with this 
blue solution, and add a few drops of hydrochloric acid, and 
the solution will turn red ; if a little ammonia be added, it 
will turn blue. The red color indicates the presence of an 
acid ; the blue, the presence of an alkali. 

Plating. — Suspend a copper plate in a bath made by dis- 
solving copper sulphate in dilute sulphuric acid. Attach to 
the plate the positive pole of a battery of two or three cells. 
Suspend the object to be plated from the negative pole, first 
thoroughly cleaning it by washing it in dilute acid. The 
action in plating is both chemical and physical. The cur- 
rent dissolves the copper on the positive pole, and copper 
from the solution is deposited on the object to be plated. 
To plate with silver or gold, use a silver or gold plate in- 
stead of the copper plate, and a solution of cyanide of silver 
or gold. 

Many other experiments will suggest themselves to the 
teacher, or will be furnished by the modern text-book or 
laboratory manual. In the selection of experiments that 



326 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

are to be performed by children, safety should be the first 
consideration. 

Hydrochloric acid is better adapted for general use than 
other common acids are. If spilled upon the clothing, a 
little ammonia will destroy it and restore the color of the 
clothing. If experiments are performed by the teacher 
with or without the aid of the class, they may be made 
somewhat more complex in their character, and they should 
be so striking as to impress all who see them. For individ- 
ual work in science classes, the experiments may be made 
more simple ; but simplicity should not run to' childish play 
— a fault common to many books on laboratory practice. 

Some Historical Notes on Various Elements. — Hydrogen 
gas, under the name of combustible air, was obtained by 
Paracelsus in the sixteenth century. Cavendish, in 1756, 
described accurately the process of its manufacture and its 
various properties. 

Nitrogen was discovered by Rutherford in 1772. Scheele 
discovered chlorine in 1774 ; in 1810 Davy proved it to be 
an element, and gave it the name it now bears. 

Carbonic acid gas is the well-known " choke damp " that 
follows the explosion of " fire damp " in mines. It has been 
used to put out fires in burning mines, and has succeeded 
when all other means have failed. In the Upas Valley, in 
Java, the gas rises to about eighteen feet above the surface ; 
the ground is covered with the bones of men and animals 
who have unknowingly entered the valley. Carbonic acid 
gas is also given off from burning charcoal, and frequently 
causes death by escape from stoves where drafts are partially 
closed. 

Oxygen was discovered in 1774 by Priestley, but was given 
its present name by Lavoisier in 1789. From its activity 
in combination, it was supposed to be an acid-forming ele- 
ment. Oxygen occurs in a modified form, ozone, to which 
it may be changed by passing a current of electricity through 
it. The relations between oxygen and ozone are not fully 



EAST EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMISTRY 327 

understood, but have been made the subject of many inter- 
esting and delicate experiments. 

Some Theories of Chemistry. — Tyndall, in a chapter on 
crystals and molecular forces, in essays entitled Fragments 
of Science, says : " According to Newton, not only does the 
sun attract the earth, and the earth attract the sun as wholes, 
but every particle of the sun attracts every particle of the 
earth, and the converse. His conclusion was that the attrac- 
tion of the masses was simply the sum of the attractions of 
their constituent particles. 

" This result seems so obvious that you will perhaps wonder 
at my dwelling upon it, but it really marks a turning point 
in our notions of force. You have probably heard of late 
of certain disturbers of the public peace named Democritus, 
Epicurus, and Lucretius. These men adopted, developed, 
and diffused the dangerous doctrine of atoms and molecules, 
which found its consummation in the city of Manchester at 
the hands of the immortal John Dalton. Now the grand 
old pagans whom I have named, and their followers up to 
the time of Newton, had pictured these atoms as falling and 
flying through space, hitting each other and clinging together 
by imaginary hooks and claws. They entirely missed the 
central idea that the molecules could come together, not by 
being fortuitously knocked together, but by their own mutual 
attractions. This is one of the great steps taken by New- 
ton. He familiarized the world with the conception of 
molecular force." 

Size of Molecules and Atoms. — By many experiments, 
investigators have succeeded in determining approximately 
the size of molecules. These are so far removed from tan- 
gible measurements that we can scarcely form an idea of 
the magnitudes involved. In the animal and vegetable 
world there are many forms of life that are scarcely dis- 
cernible by the best microscope, yet the molecule is infi- 
nitely smaller than these organisms. Some animal and 
vegetable forms of life are so small that they occupy less 



328 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

than the millionth part of a cubic inch. A platinum wire 
may be drawn out finer than the finest spider web. The 
oscillations of a horizontal pendulum may be measured to 
the one eighty -millionth part of an inch. And yet, in the 
mathematics of the molecule, we come even nearer to the 
infinitesimal in measurements. The presence in water of 
the one hundred-millionth part of a grain of salt may be 
detected by the spectroscope. To increase the atoms to one 
fiftieth of an inch in diameter, a microscope magnifying ten 
million diameters would be necessary. The motion of the 
atoms would be increased in the same proportion, and we 
should see an object one fiftieth of an inch in diameter, 
moving in the field of the microscope at a rate five hundred 
million times greater than a cannon ball. 

Thomson, Clausius, Maxwell, and others have given us 
some curious facts upon this subject. A cubic inch of 
hydrogen gas, at the freezing temperature of water, and the 
pressure of one atmosphere, contains about three hundred 
millions of millions of millions of atoms, all moving at the 
rate of over a mile per second, making nearly eighteen 
billions of oscillations in different directions in the same 
second. 

Thomson illustrates the size of a molecule by the follow- 
ing comparison : " If a drop of water as large as a pea were 
increased to the size of the earth, the molecules increasing 
in the same proportion, they would be less in size than 
cricket balls, and smaller than shot." The incessant motion 
of small particles may be beautifully illustrated by finely 
pulverizing indigo or carmine, mixing with water, and then 
placing them under, a microscope. The particles will be 
seen to be in continuous motion. Atoms and molecules are 
in constant vibration. The amplitude of the vibration of 
these particles gives rise to the phenomena of heat and 
light, and if the theories of many prominent scientists be 
true, of electricity as well. 



CHAPTER XIV 

RECREATIONS IN" LATIN 

Humors of the Study. — The humors of Latin study have been 
famous for centuries. Grave and severe men who seldom 
indulged in other forms of levity have been merry in the 
quaint conceits of which the Latin language is susceptible, 
and almost every school in which Latin is taught has its 
own folk-lore of happy turns of expression and humorous 
sallies in the language of the old Roman world. However 
trivial these may seem, they add zest to the study and lend 
a charm to what might prove otherwise a form of drudgery. 

Paronomasia, or Play upon "Words. — Here are some speci- 
mens of Latin puns : 

All pupils in Latin are familiar with the query of a col- 
lege student addressed to an indisposed classmate, 

" Sic tic 1 " — Art thou thus ? 

and with the reply of the ailing boy, 

" Sum sic ! " — I am thus. 

At a place where hock was a fashionable beverage, a 
pedantic student once gave to a waiter the order : 

"Bring me some hock — Mc, haec, lioc.'''' 

The waiter, who was not unacquainted with the Latin 
grammar, took no note of the order. 

" Didn't I order some hock ? " asked the pedant, some 
time later, with some asperity. 

329 



330 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

" Yes, but you afterwards declined it," was the reply. 
It is related that when Lord Napier stormed the famous 
Indian stronghold, he reported his victory in a single word : 

"Peccavi" — I have sinned (Scinde). 

A similar message is the one said to have been received 
by Queen Elizabeth, announcing the defeat of the Spanish 
Armada : 

" Cantharis" — The Spanish fly. 

Likewise it is said that when an officer of Louis Philippe, 
in Algeria, failed to secure a famous Barbary prisoner who 
had fallen into his hands, he reported the escape of his 
charge in the message : 

" Perdidi diem " — I have lost a day (Ley). 

Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote as an epitaph for his favorite 
tabby : 

" Mi — cat inter omnes " — He shines among all ; 

and Saxe prefixes to his Sonnet to a Clam the sententious 
words of Cicero : 

" Dum tacent, clam-ant" — While they are speechless, 
they cry aloud. 

It is said that when Rabelais, the witty priest, came to 
die, he called for a domino (a priest's hood) which he care- 
fully put on, remarking at the time : 

" Beati sunt qui moriuntur in domino " — Blessed are they 
who die in the Lord. 

The pun of a friar (Gregory VII.) has been famous through- 
out the world. Seeing some English captives at Borne, he 
was so impressed by the beauty of their features — fair 
hair, blue eyes, and snowy skin — that he inquired who 
they were. 

" Angli " (Angles), was the response of a bystander. 



BECRJEATIONS IN LATIN 331 

" JSfon Angli, sed angeli" said the enraptured friar (subse- 
quently Pope) — Not Angles, but angels. 

On inquiring the name of the province from which they 
came, he was told that this was Deira (de ira — from wrath). 
His second remark was that they must be saved from wrath. 
On being told that their king was the British iElla, he 
added that they must sing the Alleluias (hallelujahs) of the 
redeemed. 

/ When he became Pope, Gregory did not forget the cap- 
tives in the Roman market place, but sent Augustine to 
Britain, to convert the island to Christianity. 

The word pony is applied by pupils in Latin to a key, or 
translation, which is a help in their rendering of the classics, 
the idea being that such a book serves as a horse, to carry 
the learner on his way. The true meaning of the word is 
different, however. It is not really pony, but pone (meaning 
behind), and was applied at first to a prompter in a game of 
cards, who sat behind the player, and gave him " points " on 
the game. 

Notable Utterances in Latin. — Famous sayings in the 
Latin by historical personages belong to the folk-lore of 
many nations. 

At a church council held at Constance, in Switzerland, in 
1414, the Emperor Sigismund was very anxious to have 
some energetic action taken against heresy. In his speech 
at the opening of the council he used these words : 

"Date operum ut ilia nefanda schisma eradicatur." — See 
to it that this deadly schism is destroyed. 

A worthy monk, noticing that the Emperor had made the 
word schism a feminine, ventured to remonstrate gently, 
saying : 

" Domine, schisma est generis neutris." — My Lord, schism 
is of the neuter gender. 

This provoked the famous retort : 

"Ego sum Rex Romanus et super grammaticaiu^ — I am 
the Roman sovereign, and above grammar. 



332 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Cornelius de Witt, the patriot of the Netherlands, whose 
death is described in Motley's Life of John of Barneveld, 
and in Dumas' Black Tulip, died repeating the famous Third 
Ode of the Third Book of Horace, beginning : 

Justum et tenacem propositi virum — The man who is just 
and tenacious of purpose. 

The Twenty-second Ode of the First Book of Horace was 
chanted by the United German Singing Society at the ceme- 
tery when the remains of President Garfield were placed in 
the tomb, on September 26, 1881. The first stanza of this ode 
is as follows : 

Integer vitse scelerisque purus 

Non eget Mauris jaculis, neque arcu, 

Nee venenatis gravida sagittis, 

Fusee pharetra — 

The man of upright life, and pure from wickedness, 
Needs not the Moorish javelins or bow or quiver 
Loaded with poisonous darts, Fuscus. 

Familiar Latin Phrases and Proverbs. — Most dictionaries 
contain, in their supplementary lists, familiar Latin expres- 
sions, with their English equivalents. With many of these 
the ordinary reader should be acquainted, since he is certain 
to hear them and to encounter them in his general reading. 
A brief list of such expressions is given here. The teacher 
should extend his acquaintance, not only with common 
expressions in Latin, but also with those which have been 
borrowed from other languages — notably the French and 
Italian. 

Ab initio — From the beginning. 

Ad eunclem (gradum) — To the same degree. 

Ad infinitum — To infinity. 

Ad interim — In the meanwhile. 

Ad libitum — At pleasure. 

Ad nauseam — To disgust. 

Ad valorem — According to the value. 



RECREATIONS IN LATIN 333 

JEre perennius — More enduring than brass. 

A fortiori — With stronger reason. 

Anno Domini (A.D.) — In the year of our Lord. 

Anno mundi (A.M.) — In the year of the world. 

Anno urbis conditce (A.U.C.) — In the year of the building of the 
city (Rome — 753 B.C.). 

Bona fide — In good faith. 

Cacoethes loquendi — A rage, or itch, for speaking. 

Cacoethes scribendi — An itch for writing. 

Casus belli — That which causes or justifies war. 

Caveat emptor — Let the purchaser beware. 

Cum grano sails — With a grain of salt (making allowance for ex- 
aggeration) . 

Ecce homo — Behold the man. 

E pluribus unum — Out of the many the one. 

Festina lente — Hasten slowly. 

Helluo librorum — A devourer of books. 

Hicjacet — Here lies. 

In articulo mortis — In the grasp of death. 

Index ex purgatorius — A list of prohibited books. 

In extenso — At full length. 

In hoc signo vinces — Under this standard thou shalt conquer. 

In memoriam — In memory. 

Jacta est alea — The die is cast. 

Labor omnia vincit — Labor conquers all things. 

Mens sana in corpore sano — A sound mind in a sound body. 

Mutatis mutandis — The necessary changes being made. 

Nemo me impune lacessit — No one wounds me with impunity. 

Non sequitur — It does not follow. 

Obiter dictum — A thing said (by a court) in passing, and not ma- 
terial to the cause. 

O tempora I mores ! — the times ! the manners ! 

Pater patriae — The father of his country. 

Petitio principii — A begging of the question. 

Quantum sufficit — As much as may be needed. 

Quod erat demonstrandum — Which was to be demonstrated. 

Besurgam — I shall rise again. 

Scire facias — Cause it to be known. 

Sic semper tyrannis — Ever so to tyrants. 

Slet — Let it stand. 

Summum bonum — The highest good. 

Tabula rasa — A blank tablet. 



334 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Tn quoqae, Brute — And thou too, Brutus. (Implying betrayal by 
a friend.) 

Ultima Thule — The utmost limit. (The unexplored world.) 
Vacle mecum — Go thou with me. (A constant companion.) 
Viva voce — By the living voice. 
Vox humana — The human voice. 

Roman Proverbs. — There are many proverbial expressions 
of the ancient Romans which have come clown to us, a few 
of which may be mentioned here. 

Ad Kalendas Grcecas means, In the time of the Greek 
calends. Since the Greeks had no calends, this means no 
time at all. 

Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus signifies, Even the 
good Homer sometimes nods ; that is to say, the greatest 
authorities are liable to err. 

Ab ovo usque ad mala, meaning from the egg to the apples, 
indicates an entire banquet, from the first course to the last, 
since the Roman banquet began with eggs and ended with 
fruits. 

Deus ex machina, meaning, literally, a god from the 
machine, had reference to the theatrical contrivance for 
letting down a god from the ceiling to take part in a drama. 
This introduction of a god was not deemed justifiable unless 
the plot of the play became so entangled as to admit of no 
satisfactory solution without divine interposition. Hence, 
Deus ex machina came to mean any unexpected deliverance 
or fortunate circumstance. 

Ex pede Hercidem signifies, From the foot, a Hercules. 
That is to say, we judge of the whole from the specimen. 

Vent, vidi, vici, meaning, I came, I saw, I conquered, was 
the brief dispatch in which Caesar heralded his victory in a 
campaign of remarkable brevity and brilliancy. 

Epigrammatic Extracts from Latin Authors. — There is 
much of sententious wisdom in quotations from the clas- 
sics, which are often valuable for this as well as for their 
aids to the study of Latin. 



RECREATIONS IN LATIN 335 

It is good practice for the teacher of Latin to write upon 
the blackboard, each day, some notable sentiment from a 
Latin author, and for the pupils to copy the series of such 
quotations in an exercise book. Among the passages suit- 
able for the purpose are the following : 

Nemo repente fuit turpissimus. — Juvenal. 
No one ever became very wicked at once. 

Neque semper arcum tendit Apollo. — Horace. 
Apollo does not always keep his bow bent. 

Ne quid nimis. — Terence. 
Nothing in excess. 

Nil actum reputans, si quid superesset agendum. — Lucan. 
Deeming nothing done, if anything remained to do. 

Non omnia possumus omnes. — Vergil. 
We cannot all do all things. 

Nullum est jam dictum quod non dictum sit prius. — Terence. 
Nothing is said now that has not been said before. 

Omne ignotum pro magnifico. — Tacitus. 
Everything unknown is magnificent. 

Pectus est quod disertos f acit. — Quintilian. 
It is the heart that makes men eloquent. 

Omne solum forti patria est. — Ovid. 
Every land is a home to the brave man. 

Juvenile vitum regere non posse impetum. — Seneca. 

It is the fault of youth not to be able to control its own violence. 

Nihil est ab omni parte beatum. — Horace. 
Nothing is a complete blessing. 

Eortuna multis dat nimium ; nulli satis. — Martial. 
Fortune to many gives too much ; to none enough. 

Non ut diu vivamus curandum est, sed ut satis. — Seneca. 
Not that we should care to live long, but well. 

Omnem crede diem tibi dilexisse supremum. — Horace. 
Consider each of your days to be your last. 

Vita enim mortuorum in memoria vivorum est posita. — Cicero. 
For the life of the dead still lives in the memory of the living. 



336 SCHOOL BECEEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Veritas absolutus sermo ac semper est simplex. 

— Ammianus Marcellinus. 
The language of truth is always unadorned and simple. 

Omnia quae vindicaris in altero, tibi ipsi vehementer fugienda sunt. 

— Cicero. 
Everything that you find fault with in others be especially sure to 
avoid yourself. 

Patria est communis omnium parens. — Cicero. 
Our country is the common parent of all. 

Cujusvis hominis est errare ; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perse- 
verare. — Cicero. 

Any man may err ; no one but a fool will continue in error. 

Esse oportet ut vivas, non vivere ut edas. — Cicero. 
You should eat to live, not live to eat. 

Ratio et oratio conciliant inter se homines. — Cicero. 
Reason and speech unite men to each other. 

Memoria est thesaurus omnium rerum et cnstos. — Cicero. 
Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things. 

Ut sementem feceris, ita metes. — Cicero. 
As thou sowest, so shalt thou reap. 
Vivere est cogitare. — Cicero. 
To live is to think. 

Adversse res admonent religionem. — Livt. 
Adversity calls men to religion. 

Bonitas non est pessimis esse meliorem. — Seneca. 
It is not goodness to be better than the very bad. 

Alea jacta est. — (Reported by Suetonius) Julius C^sar. 
The die is cast. 

Audentes fortuna juvet. — Vergil. 
Fortune favors the bold. 

Dimidium facti, qui ccepit, habet. — Horace. 
He who has begun has half finished. 

Eaber est quisque fortunse suse. — Sallust. 
Every man is the architect of his own fortunes. 

Homo sum ; humani nihil a me alienum puto. — Terence. 

I am a man ; I think nothing foreign to me that concerns humanity. 



OUTLINE OF MANN'S SCHOOL RECREATIONS 

AND AMUSEMENTS, AND SUGGESTIONS 

TO THE TEACHER. 

The study of this volume is apportioned among the vari- 
ous months of the Reading Circle year, as indicated below. 
The analysis has been made in the book in the sub-heads 
of paragraphs, and with such fullness as to do away with 
the necessity for appending an analytical outline as an aid 
to the Reading Circle work. The reading should be thor- 
ough, and the teacher should seek constantly to apply to 
his own school whatever suggestions may be offered in every 
chapter for the promotion of the pupils' health and growth 
of mind and body. 

FIRST MONTH, Preface and Chapter L— In read- 
ing the Preface, note the ideas upon which the book is 
based, and consider the responsibility of the teacher in 
the matter of rendering the school work inviting and 
invigorating. 

In Chapter I. make a careful study of the Scriptural par- 
allelisms, and observe how the correlation of Scripture with 
literature adds to the interest of both. Decide upon your 
own course in the matter of devotional exercises in the 
school. Whatever this may be, arrange by yourself an 
extension of the Scripture readings presented as a means 
of culture. Prepare an extension of the quotations from 
authors, and determine the use you are to make of them. 
According to the advancement of your pupils, adapt and 
extend the suggestive outline of current events. 

SCH. REC. & AMIS. 22 337 



338 SCHOOL BECEEATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

SECOND MONTH, Chapters II., III., and IV. — Com- 
pare your own experience with that of the teacher men- 
tioned in Chapter II. Apply the suggestions to the care 
of your schoolroom. What can you do in the matter of 
a school cabinet? of botanical and entomological collec- 
tions ? of pictures ? If you have small pupils, you can 
make use of the singing games of Chapter III. Some of 
the songs will be suitable for the pupils of more advanced 
grades. If your pupils are all too old for these games, 
you will at least find the latter to possess interest in them- 
selves. The game of The Bridge of Avignon issaid to be at 
least five centuries old. The music of The Missing Pupil 
(Au Clair de la Lime) is famous as the song of " Trilby." 
The older version of King Will dates back two centuries 
in English history. Come, Comrades, in some form, is 
sung in many nations and in many tongues. 

What profitable use can you make of singing geography ? 
Note carefully the lessons on home geography. What class 
use can you make of imaginary journeys ? of supplement- 
ary geographical reading ? of sample products ? of observa- 
tions of the weather ? of geographical compositions ? If you 
do not teach geography, use the chapter for your own indi- 
vidual advancement. Familiarize yourself with the poems 
of place, and with various books mentioned ; note the ety- 
mologies and the variations of geographical names ; observe 
the modern trend of the science, and seek opportunities for 
advancement in physiography. 

THIRD MONTH, Chapters V. and VI. — Consider care- 
fully the described defect in American education. What 
influence can you exert to remedy it in your school ? 
What are your opportunities for teaching physical culture '? 
Make use of some or all the simple exercises without appa- 
ratus, previously mastering them so as to be independent 
of the book. If you cannot fit up an exercise room, or 
gymnasium, in connection with the school, probably you 
can lend your influence in favor of such an enterprise else- 



SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER 339 

where. In any event, you will desire for your own use the 
information contained in the chapter. 

What is your opinion of the desirability of a general 
acquaintance with the elements of military drill among the 
youth of the land, as an element of national safety ? Apart 
from this view of the subject, have you fully considered 
the value of military exercises as a means of physical cul- 
ture and of discipline? How can you make use of the 
military drills among the boys of your school ? How can 
you adapt them to the training of girls in flag drills ? Con- 
sider the advantages of encouraging your pupils to practice 
boating, swimming, cycling, etc. 

FOURTH MONTH, Chapters VII. and VIII. — Chap- 
ter VII. will prove valuable to any teacher, of whatever 
school or department, as a means of general culture. The 
mnemonic rhymes in Chapter VII. will prove serviceable as 
a labor-saving device in the teaching and study of general 
history. The work of the iconoclasts and the relation of 
folk-lore to history are necessary to a comprehension of the 
modern idea of history. If you teach history, make use of 
the " original sources of history " quoted, and extend the 
number of the quotations by a selection of your own, as 
opportunity offers. Acquaint yourself with the mythical 
British and pre-Columbian American accounts. Follow 
out, as far as possible, the historical characters and themes 
mentioned in the chapter. Compare historical writers as 
to style. Acquire for yourself an appreciation of the es- 
sence of history. If you teach the subject, present it in 
the light of modern thought and criticism. 

The outdoor amusements presented in Chapter VIII. in- 
clude various games, some old, some new. Consider which 
of these can be used most advantageously by the pupils of 
your school, either on the school grounds or elsewhere as 
holiday recreations. If you do not find it necessary to 
exert an active influence in the healthful amusements of 
pupils, at least indicate your interest in them. Some ac- 



340 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

quaintance with the great national games of the most cul- 
tured peoples of the world is desirable for its own sake ; 
and apart from the recreations of the pupils, every teacher 
should acquire personally some definite knowledge of the 
more famous outdoor games of the present time. 

FIFTH MONTH, Chapter IX. — The subject of this 
chapter is one of special and practical interest to all teach- 
ers. Note, first, the recommendations of the Committee of 
Ten in reference to grammar and composition. What has 
been your experience in the use of reference books by pupils 
in composition ? In teaching composition, make use of the 
abstract, the outline, amplification, and paraphrase. Require 
your pupils to write letters of various forms. Note the great 
and growing importance of business correspondence. Follow 
out, as a means of personal culture, the authors and subjects 
presented. Note the origin of the English novel, and the 
changes wrought in correspondence. 

SIXTH MONTH, Chapters X. a^d XL— Note the 
contrast presented between school life in the United States 
and in other countries, and consider how national patriotism 
and local spirit may be fostered in the school. Arrange 
for the celebration of the birthdays of certain authors and 
statesmen. Consider carefully the time to be devoted to 
any special exercises, and the nature of the observances. 
Consider how your Friday afternoon exercises may be im- 
proved. Give attention to the enunciation and the expres- 
sion of your pupils in reading and speaking, and consider 
how the principles of elocution can be applied most generally 
and profitably in the school. If you have in mind a general 
exhibition, you can avail yourself of the suggestions of 
Chapter X. in the selection of representative materials. 
If you have not, make full use of the chapter for your own 
improvement, acquainting yourself with much of the litera- 
ture to which reference is made. Note the origin of the 
English drama; the corrupt drama, and its evil influence; 
the revival of the classic drama in colleges. 



SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER 311 

In almost every school there are pupils sufficiently ad- 
vanced to conduct simple debates, and to transact the 
ordinary business of a school society. The brief summary 
of parliamentary forms will be of value in any literary 
organization of the pupils, and the list of subjects will be 
found to contain a wide range of topics suitable for discus- 
sions. Apply the suggestions of the chapter in bringing 
out the ability of your pupils to think clearly and to express 
their thoughts naturally and logically. If you have no 
immediate occasion to make use of the forms of parlia- 
mentary procedure, at least make sure that you yourself 
have a ready acquaintance with them. 

SEVENTH MONTH, Chapter XII. — Note the recom- 
mendation of the Committee of Ten in reference to the 
study of simple, natural phenomena in the elementary 
schools, and the contrast which this presents to the former 
theory and practice of science teaching. 

The " Easy Experiments " of this chapter are somewhat 
general in their scope, and for the most part may be 
adapted to use in various grades. The younger the pupils, 
the more careful and specific must be the explanations. 
What use can you make of any of these experimental 
lessons ? Adapt them, in your own way, to the advance- 
ment of your pupils ; or, if for any reason you find it un- 
necessary or impracticable to make present use of them 
in the schoolroom, study them carefully for a review of 
principles in physics. It is one thing to know a principle, 
and another to be able, on a moment's notice, to explain 
and illustrate it with a simple experiment and demonstra- 
tion. It is one thing to secure a result, and another to 
be able to explain clearly how it was secured. A mastery 
of this chapter, and the experience which will come from 
the actual performance of the experiments, will add ma- 
terially to the equipment of any teacher. Often experi- 
ments of the kind suggested, performed with simple 
apparatus, can be used for an evening entertainment, 



342 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 

wholly outside of school hours, and will serve to interest 
parents and other visitors, as well as the pupils. Winter 
evenings in the country may be thus employed to great 
advantage. Some of the experiments may be utilized in 
teachers' meetings and Institutes. The ability to perform 
them readily, to explain them clearly, and to adapt them 
to the occasion, is one of sufficient importance to justify 
the teacher in devoting to the subject a month of careful 
reading and study, supplementing the chapter with addi- 
tional readings in recent publications on the subject of 
physics and experiments. 

EIGHTH MONTH, Chapters XIII. and XIV. — What 
has been said in reference to the work of the preceding 
month will apply generally to the subject of experiments 
in chemistry. Comparatively few pupils make a study of 
chemistry as a science, and the opportunity of the many for 
any clear ideas on the subject is to be found only in the 
object lesson or in the evening lecture. Apart from the 
benefit which you personally receive from a review of 
the subject, what use can you make of this chapter ? Per- 
haps you can present some of the experiments as object 
lessons in your school. It may be better for you to present 
them in an evening entertainment of pupils and patrons. 
At least you will have occasion, at times, to make general 
use of some of the explanations of chemical changes. Xote 
which of the experiments possess an element of risk or 
danger when performed by the unskillful, and observe great 
caution in the case of such. 

The Recreations in Latin are not intended for teachers 
and pupils of Latin classes exclusively. Every teacher 
should have some knowledge of Latin words and their 
equivalents — especially of the Latin phrases which have 
come into common use. If you are a teacher of Latin, 
make use of the extracts from classic authors, as suggested 
in the chapter. In any event, familiarize yourself with the 
common Latin phrases and their definitions. 



INDEX 



A Prairie Nest, 87. 

A Tour of Greece, 90. 

Abbott, Jacob, 89, 199. 

Absorption of gases, 320 ; of moisture, 323, 

324. 
Abstracts, outlines, etc., 227-230. 
Acid tests, 325. 
Acids, bases, and salts, 321. 
Across the Continent, 90. 
Adams, William T., 89. 
Addisonian Society, 277. 
Addresses, Lincoln's, 188. • 
Adventures of Telemaque, 88. 
jEneid, 178. 

^Esthetics in education, 56. 
Affinity, Chemical, 313, 314. 
Afloat in the Forest, 89. 
Africa, 89. 
A'ida, March from, 72. 
Aims of Bible reading, 10, 11 ; of devotional 

exercises, 8 ; of school gymnastics, 121. 
Alaska, 90. 

Albanact, derivation of Albany, 179. 
Alchemy, 310. 
Algeria, 90. 
All's Well That Ends Well, Extract from, 

39. 
Altrippen, corrupted from Alta Ripa, 100. 
Aluminum, Use of, 42. 
America, 95. 
America, Pre-Columbian discoveries of, 

179-182. 
America not Discovered by Columbus, 

180. 
American education, Defect in, IIS, 119. 
American history, Iconoclast in, 184-189. 
American History Leaflets, 195. 
American republics, 43. 
American statesmen, 243. 
American Statesmen Series, 200. 
Amplification and paraphrase, 230-283. 
Amusements, Direction of school, 205 ; 

Need of, 203, 204 ; Outdoor, 203-221. 
Anderson, Easmus, 180 n. 
Animal Sagacity, 90. 
Antediluvians, Song of, 73, 74. 
Apparatus for gymnasiums, 131-138. 
Appreciation of history, 200-202. 
Aquariums, 53. 
Arabian Nights, 239. 
Aragon, House of, 177. 
Arbor day celebrations, 255, 256. 
Archimedes, Story of, 298 n. 



Argon, Discovery of, 42. 

Arm and shoulder exercises, 126, 127. 

Armory at Springfield, The, 87. 

Arms in military drills, 147. 

Arnold, Sir Edwin, 11. 

Arrangement of geological specimens, 50. 

Arthur, King, 178. 

Artificial respiration, 166-168. 

As You Like It, Extract from, 39. 

Athaliah, Story of Queen, 28, 29. 

Athalie, Racine's, 28, 29. 

Athletics, Supervision of, 205, 206. 

Atoms, 290, 313 ; Size of, 327, 328. 

Attraction, Chemical, 813, 314. 

Australia, 94. 

Authors' birthdays, 255, 256 ; portraits, 53, 

54. 
Authors of the 19th century, 11. 
Axle, Wheel and, 297. 

Ball games, 208. 

Bandy, game, 210. 

Bar bell exercises, 128, 129. 

Barbara Frietehie, 87. 

Bardeen, Charles W., 257. 

Barnaby Budge, 240. 

Barometer, Use of, 93. 

Baseball, Indoor, 142 ; Outdoor, 209. 

Bases, 321. 

Basket ball, game, 140, 141. 

Battalions, 146. 

Batavia, 94. 

Beautifying the schoolroom, 45-56 ; modern 
ideas, 45 ; country schools, 45, 46 ; inex- 
pensive improvements, 46 ; care of room, 
47 ; school decorations, 47, 48 ; maps, 
charts, etc., 4S ; educational exhibits, 48, 
49 ; school cabinets, 49, 50 ; flowers, 50, 
51 ; botanical and entomological collec- 
tions, 51-53 ; aquariums, 53 ; pictures, 
etc., 53-55; cooperation, 55; general 
furnishings, 55 ; stereopticon, 56 ; the 
resthetic in education, 56. 

Behaim, Martin, 187. 

Bells, Poe's, 258. 

Ben in geographical names, 96. 

Bernardi's method of swimming, 165. 

Bible as educator, 11 ; as source of pure 
English, 10, 11 ; historical and literary 
parallelisms in, 11-19 ; a notable poem, 
29-32 ; readings, 8-11, 34, 35 ; selections, 
9, 10, 12-16, 19-21, 23, 24, 2C-29, 35, 
73. 



813 



344 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



Biblical subjects of poems, 19-34. 

Bicycles, 168-172. 

Bingen on the Rhine, 88. 

Biographical sketches, 238. 

Biography in relation to history, 199. 

"Black art," 310. 

Black Sea, 94. 

Black VtiUp, 332. 

Blackie, William, 122. 

Blaine, James G-., 188. 

Bleak House, 240. 

Blind Men and the Elephant, The, 22S. 

Blind pig, game, 210. 

Boating, 155-162. 

Boerhaave, Herman, chemist, 312. 

Book of Job, 29. 

Books 'of reference, 225, 226. 

Botanical collections, 51, 52. 

Bottom of the Sea, The, 90. 

Bourbon, House of, 176-178. 

Boy Travelers, The, 89. 

Boyesen's Brier Rose, 261. 

Boys of Other Countries, 90. 

Brazil, 89. 

Breathing exercise, 123. 

Brendan, Brandan, or Borandan, 187. 

Bret Harte's Heathen Chinee, 262. 

Bridge of Avignon, game, 67, 63. 

Britannia, 94. 

British statesmen, etc., 243. 

Browning, Mrs., Cry of the Children and 
Cowper's Grave, 261. 

Browning, Robert, SS ; Pied Piper of 
Hamelin and Ride from Ghent to Aix, 
262. 

Brunswick, House of, 175. 

Brutus or Brute, 178. 

Bryant, William Cullen, 87. 

Bundnca or Boadicea, 179. 

Burger's Lenore, 263. 

Burgh, borough, etc., in geographical 
names, 96. 

Burke's speeches, 265. 

Business letters, 233. 236. 

Butterworth, Hezekiah, 87, 90. 

By Chick a manga River, 87. 

Byron's Childe Harold, 8S ; Destruc- 
tion of Sennacherib, 22, 23 ; Letters, 
235 ; Saul, 22. 

Cabinets, School, 49, 50. 

Cmsar, Life of, 197, 199. 

Caledonia, 94. 

Calendar, its use in schools, 86. 

Calvin, 202. 

Camber, Cambria, 94, 179. 

Camera, Value of, 158, 160. 

Canoeing, 158-161. 

Canute, derivation of Kent, 178. 

Capetian Line, 175. 

Carbon, 321, 322. 

Carbon dioxide, 319, 320, 322. 

Carbonic acid gas, 319, 320, 326. 

Carleton's Chicago Fire, 262. 

Carlyle, Thomas, 193. 

Cart'wright, Anecdote of, 183. 

Cass, Lewis, 103. 

Caster, in geographical names, 96. 

Castile, House of, 177. 



Catawba River, 87. 

Catboat, 157. 

Cautions for letter writing, 235, 236. 

Cavendish, 326. 

Cervantes, 239. 

Change, Physical and chemical, 314, 315. 

Chapone, Letters of Mrs., 235. 

Character reading, 260. 

Charcoal, 322. 

Charles V., Anecdote of, 190. 

Charriere, Mme., 57. 

Chart journeys, 92. 

Charts, etc., in schoolrooms, 4S. 

Chateau Vert, corrupted to Shotover, 101. 

Chemical affinity, 313, 314; changes, 314, 

315 ; compounds, 818 ; philosophy, 312 ; 

theories, 327. 
Chemistoy, Easv experiments in, 310-32S ; 

Origin of, 310-312. 
Chester, in geographical names, 96. 
Chicago Canal, 42. 
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, S8. 
Children of Israel, Song of, 35, 
Children's Dialogues, 267 n.; games, 57, 

58. 
Chile or Chili, 102. 
China, 89, 92 ; and Japan, 43, 90. 
Chlorine, 320, 321, 326. 
Choice Dialogues, 267. 
Choice Selections, De Witt's, 204 n. 
Christmas Carol, Holland's, 20. 
Cicero, Extracts from, 335, 386 ; Letters of, 

235 ; Speeches of, 265. 
Classic authors, Bible in relation to, 11. 
Clausius, 328. 

Clay, Henrv, 187, 188, 245, 285. 
Cliff Climbers, The, 89. 
Climate, Study of, 94. 
Climbing pole, 138. 
Clubs, Debating, 272. 
Coal, 322. 

Cobbler Keezar\s Vision, 229. 
Coel or Cole, in mythical history, 159. 
Coliseum, 54. 
Collections, aquariums. 53 ; Botanical. 51, 

52 ; Entomological, 52, 53 ; Mineralogi- 

cal. 50. 
Coloring, 325. 
Colquhoun, 89. 
Columbia, 94. 

Combustion, Experiments in, 323. 
Commemorative exercises, 254-256. 
Committee of Ten, 115, 288, 2S9. 
Companies, Size of military, 146. 
Comparison of historians, 192, 198. 
Compass, in geography, 85. 
Compositions, 237, 23S ; Descriptive, 246. 

247; Geographical topics for, 111, 112 

in Action, 248, 249; Original, 223-225 

School, 222-251 ; Time allotted to, 225 

work must be gradual. 225. 
Compound, Chemical, 313. 
Congress, Mock, 286. 
Constitution of school societies, 276. 
Convention, Mock, 2S7. 
Corineus, derivation of Cornwall, 17S ; 

Jack the Giant-killer, 178. 
Cornelia, Anecdote of, 11, 12. 
Comer ball, game, 209, 210. 



INDEX 



345 



Courtship of Miles Standish, 231. 

Cowper's Letters, 235. 

Cricket, game, 211. 

Cromwell, Oliver, 193 ; Letter of, 199. 

Crystals, 324, 325. 

Cuba, Future of, 43 ; Rebellion of, 43. 

Curious geographical names, 102, 103. 

Current history, Periodical summaries of, 

41-43 ; Suggestive outlines for, 43, 44. 
Cycling, 168-172. 

Dalton, John, 312, 327. 

Danton's speeches, 265. 

David, Song of, 35. 

David Copperfield, 240. 

Davy, Sir Humphry, 326. 

Days and Nights in the Tropics, 90. 

Dead Souls, 56. 

Debates, School, 272-287; Subjects for 
school, 280, 284 ; Value of, 272-274. 

Debon, derivation of Devonshire, 178. 

Declamations and orations, 264, 265. 

Decorations, School, 47, 48. 

Deep-sea life, 112, 113. 

Definitions, Scientific, 290, 291. 

Democritus, 327. 

Density of bodies, 290. 

Derzhavin's God, 32-34. 

Descriptive compositions, 246, 247. 

Desmoulins, Camille, 201. 

Devotional exercises, 8-44. 

Dialogues, 266-268 ; Dickens's, 267 n. 

Dickens, Charles, Sketch of, 239-241. 

Dickens Dictionary, 260 n. 

Dictionary of Fiction, 44. 

Dime Dialogue Books, 267 n. 

Dipper, in geography lesson, 86. 

Discourse of the Plantation of the 
Souihei'ne Colonie in Virginia, 196. 

Discoveries of America, Pre-Columbian, 
179-182. 

Dixie's Land, 95, 189. 

Dolores, 87. 

Dombey and Son, 240. 

Douglas, Stephen A., 286. 

Dred Scott Case, 1SS. 

Drills, boating, cycling, etc., 145-172 ; mili- 
tary training for pupils, 145, 146 ; size of 
companies, uniforms, arms, manuals, 
146-148; salutes, 148, 149; flag drills, 
150-153 ; other forms of drill, 154 ; ex- 
hibition drills, 154; boating, 155-153; 
canoeing, 158-160 ; rowing, 161, 162 ; 
swimming, 162 ; Bernardi's method of 
swimming, 165; restoration of drowned, 
166-168 ; cycling, 168-172. 

Drowning, Aid in, 166-168. 

Dryden's Alexander's Feast, 261. 

Diimas's Black Tulip, 332. 

Dumb-bell exercises, 127, 128. 

Dutch Guiana, 94. 

D wight's story of Hercules, 12. 

Dynastic genealogies, 174. 

Earth, Sea, and Sky, 90. 

Easy experiments in chemistry, 310-32S ; 

in physics, 2S8-309. 
Eclogue of Vergil, Fourth, 15-17. 
Education, The aesthetic in, 56. 



Educational exhibits, Materials, etc., for, 
48,49. 

Egypt, 89. 

Electricity, 42 ; Experiments in, 305-308. 

Elements, 313 ; Historical notes on, 326, 
327. 

Elizabeth, Life of, 199. 

Elizabethan period of history, 36. 

Elocution in public exercises, 257-259 ; 
True basis of, 25S. 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 54 ; on history, 202. 

Emerton, Dr., 179. 

Emperor's Bird's Nest, The, 229. 

Energy of children, 204. 

England, 94 ; Mythical history of, 178, 1 <9. 

English grammar, 222, 223 ; in relation to 
science, etc., 224; Study of, 222. 

Engravings in schoolrooms, 53, 54. 

Entomological collections, 52, 53. 

Epicurus, 327. 

Epigrams from Latin authors, 234-236. 

Epistle of Pliny, 18. 19. 

Epistle to Philemon, 18, 19. 

Essay, Historical, 243-246. 

Essentials of military training, 146. 

Etchings in schoolrooms, 54 ; on glass, 
324. 

Etymological vocabulary of geographical 
names, 96, 97. 

Europe, 91. 

Euxine Sea, 94. 

Evaporation, 300. 

Eve of St. Agnes, The, 229. 

Exercise songs, 72 ; Familiar, 74, 75. 

Exercises, Devotional, 8; Morning, 7^4; 
Necessity of exercise, 203 ; Other forms 
of general, 35 ; Selections for devotional, 
9^14 ; Time for general, 7, 8. 

Exhibition drills, 154, 155. 

Exhibitions, School, 252-271. 

Exhibits, Educational, 48, 49. 

Exiles, The, 229. 

Experiments and Suggestions, Miscella- 
neous, 308, 309. 

Experiments in chemistry, 310-328 ; origin 
of science, 310-312 ; materials for experi- 
ments, 312, 313 ; scientific terms, 313, 
314 ; physical and chemical change. 314, 
315 ; elements of water, 315, 316 ; exper- 
iments with oxygen, hydrogen, etc., 
316-320 ; gases, 320 ; chlorine, 320, 321 ; 
acids, bases, and salts, 321 ; carbon, 321, 
322 ; iodine, 322, 323 ; combustion, 323 ; 
moisture, 323, 324; etching on glass, 
324 ; crystals and coloring, 324, 325 ; the 
torpedo, 325 ; acid tests and plating, 325, 
326 ; historical notes on the elements, 
326, 327 ; chemical theories, 327 ; size of 
molecules and atoms, 327, 328. 

Experiments in physics, 2SS-309 ; science 
in elementary schools, 28S, 289 ; value of 
science, 289, 290 ; preliminary definitions 
and experiments, 290-294 ; suction pump, 
294, 295; mechanical powers, 295-297; 
floating bodies, 298 ; heat, sound, light, 
etc., 299-308 ; miscellaneous experiments, 
308, 309. 

Expression in elocution, 260 ; of thought, 
224, 225. 



346 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



Extracts from Latin authors, Epigram- 
matic, 234-236. 

Falls of St. Anthony, 91. 

Familiar exercise songs, 74, 75 ; Latin 
phrases and proverbs, 332-334. 

Famous sayings misquoted, 191. 

Fancy drills, 150-155. 

Far Mist, The, 90. 

Farrar, Archdeacon, 18, 19, 90. 

Faust, March from, 71. 

Fenelon, 88. 

Merino's Favorites, 267 n. 

Ferrex and Porrex, 179. 

Fiction, Compositions in, 248, 249. 

Fielding, Henry, 239. 

Fifth Satire of Persius, 19. 

Filtration, 324. 

Fisherman of Beaufort, The, 87. 

Fives, game, 210, 211. 

Flag days, etc., 255, 256; drills, 150-154. 

Flags, School, 48 ; at carry, 150 ; on shoul- 
der, 150. 

Matey Book, The, 195. 

Floating bodies, Law of, 298. 

Florence Stories, 89. 

Flowers in schoolroom, 50, 51. 

Folk-lore and history, 182-184. 

Follow my leader, game, 219. 

Football, game, 207, 208 ; Modern, 211-214. 

Foreign names of cities, 95, 96. 

Fox, Anecdote of, 286. 

Fragments of Science, TyndalTs, 327. 

France, Kule'rs of, 175, 176. 

Franklin's Letters, 235. 

French invasion, 177. 

Friday exercises, 256, 257. 

Friendly letters, 237. 

Froebel, 57. 

Fugitive Slave Law, 187. 

Fusang, America named, 180. 

Gage, Francis D., 87. 

Games, baseball, 209 ; corner ball, 209, 210 ; 
cricket, 211 ; fives, 210 ; follow my leader, 
219 ; football, 207, 208 ; for gymnasiums, 
140-144 ; for older children, 57 ; golf, 220, 
221 ; haley over, 208, 209 ; hare and 
hounds, 2i8, 219 ; in relation to physical 
training, 120, 121 ; prisoner's base, 219, 
220 ; roll ball, 209 ; rounders, 214, 215 ; 
shinny, 210 ; singing games for little pu- 
pils, 57-77 ; soft ball, 208 ; suitable for 
children, 58 ; tennis, 216-218 ; value of, 
221. 

Garfield, Burial of, 332. 

Gases, Absorption and weighing of, 320. 

Gebir, alchemist, 312. 

Geike, 116. 

Genealogies, the framework of history, 174. 

General exercises, 35. 

General history, Iconoclasts in, 189-191. 

General school exhibition, 257 ; school fur- 
nishings, 55. 

Geoffroy, Claude, chemist, 312. 

Geographical essays, 247. 

Geographical names, Curious, 102, 103 ; 
Duplicate, 94 ; Pronunciation of, 100-102 ; 
Sportive, 97, 98 ; Vocabulary of, 96, 97. 



Geographical pictures, 103-107. 

Geographical Reader, Monteith's, 92. 

Geographical readings, 86, 87. 

Geographical recreations, 83-117 ; singing 
geography, 83, 84 ; modern ideas, 84 ; 
modern recreations, 84 ; orientation, 84, 
85 ; home geography, 85, S6 ; geographi- 
cal readings, 86-90 ; imaginary journeys, 
90, 91 ; chart journeys, 92 ; sample prod- 
ucts, 92 ; weather observations, 92-94 ; 
duplicate geographical names, 94 ; poet- 
ical and foreign names, 94-96 ; meanings 
of terms, 96, 97 ; sportive names, 97, 98 ; 
Indian names, 98-100 ; pronunciation, 
100-102; curious names, 102, 103; hu- 
morous pictures, 103-107 ; maps and 
globes, 108, 109; text-books, 109, 110; 
observational geography, 110, 111 ; geo- 
graphical and physiographical topics, 111- 
113 ; rulers of nations,. 113-115 ; physi- 
ography, 115-117. 

Geographical terms, meanings of, 96, 97. 

Geographical text-books, 109, 110. 

Geographical topics for compositions, 111, 
112. 

Geological specimens, arrangement of, 50. 

German Ocean, 94. 

Germania, or Germany, 94. 

Globes, Relief, 108. 

God, Derzhavin's, 32-34. 

God Save the Emperor Francis, 95, 

God Save the Queen, 95. 

Goethe's Erlkbnig, 263. 

Gogol, 57. 

Goldsmith, Anecdote of, 285. 

Golf, 220, 221. 

Good, Bog of Breda, The, 228. 

Gracchi, Anecdote of, 11, 12. 

Grammar, English, 222, 223. 

Grant's proclamation, 245. 

Graphite, 322. 

Gravitation, Attraction of, 290. 

Great Expectations, 241. 

Greece, 94. 

Greeley, Anecdote of, 1S3. 

Greenland, 90. 

Greetings, Morning, 60. 

Gros, Mr., 311. 

Guanahani, 184. 

Gulf of California, 94. 

Gymnasium and its apparatus, 181 ; Games 
for, 140-144 ; in schools, 119, 207 ; Simple, 
131-138. 

Gymnastic recreations, 118-144 ; Lack of, in 
American education, 118, 119 ; duty of 
teacher, 119; Rooms for, 119, 120; Pur- 
pose of, 120, 121 ; teacher's preparation 
for work, 122 ; simple exercises, 122-131 ; 
apparatus, 131-138 ; Care in, 13S ; general 
observations, 13S-140 ; games for gym- 
nasium, 140-144 ; benefits of, 144. 

Kail, Columbia, 151. 

Ilailmann, Dr., 70. 

Haley over, game, 208, 209. 

Hamlet, Extract from, 38. 

Hamlet's Soliloquy, 258, 261. 

Hang ball, game, 143 ; tag, game, 141. 

Hannibal, Life of, 199. 



INDEX 



347 



Hapsburg, House of, 17T. 
Hard Times, 240. 
Hare and hounds, game, 21S, 219. 
Harrison, Anecdote of General, 185. 
Harvard University, 179. 
Head exercises, 123, 124. 
Heat, Experiments in, 299-301. 
Heine's Lorelei, 263. 
Helium, Discovery of, 42. 
Hellas, or Greece, 94. 
Helvetia, or Switzerland, 94. 
Henry the Eighth, Extracts from, 37, 38. 
Henry the Fifth, Extracts from, 41. 
Henry the Fourth, Extracts from, 39, 40. 
Henry the Sixth, Extract from, 40. 
Hercules, Story of, 12. 
Hezekiah, Prayer of, 23. 
Hibernia, 94. 

Historians, Comparison of, 192, 193. 
Historical essay, 243-246 ; notes on ele- 
ments, 326, 327. 
Historical recreations, 173-202; treatment 
of history, 173 ; mnemonic rhymes, 
173-178 ; England's mythical history, 
178, 179 ; pre-Columbian discoveries of 
America, 179-182 ; history and folk-lore, 
182-184 ; iconoclasts of history, 182-191 ; 
famous sayings misquoted, 191 ; modern 
ideas of history, 191, 192 ; comparison of 
historians, 192 ; personal equation in 
history, 193 ; amplification of lessons, 
194 ; original source of, 194, 195 ; pic- 
tures of colonial life, 196-199 ; history for 
young pupils, 199, 200 ; supplementary 
literature, 200 ; appreciation of history, 
200-202. 
History and folk-lore, 182-184 ; and geog- 
raphy related, 113 ; appreciation of, 200- 
202 ; for young pupils, 199, 200 ; in rela- 
tion to English, 224; Modern ideas of, 
191, 192; Mythical English, 178, 179; 
Original sources of, 194, 195 ; Outlines 
and summaries of current, 41-44 ; Per- 
sonal equation in, 193. 
Hockey, game, 210. 
Holland, 94. 
Holland, Dr. J. G., Christmas Carol, 

26. 
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 54, 229. 
Home geography, 85, 86. 
Home Life in Germany, 90. 
Homes of Americans, S9. 
Hood's Song of the Shirt, 261. 
Hoi - ace, Extracts from, 335, 336. 
Horatius, Story of, 14. 
Horizontal bar exercises, 132, 133. 
Horse exercises, 135, 136. 
Hours with Men and Books, 1S3 n. 
Houston, Prof. Edwin J., 116. 
How to Get Strong, 122. 
Hugo, Victor, Anecdote of, 285 ; Djinns, 

264. 
Humber, derivation of Humber River, 

179. 
Humor in Latin, 329. 
Humphreys, Mary Gay, 252. 
Hydrogen, Discovery of, 326 ; Experiments 

with, 317, 318. 
Hydrometer, Use of, 93. 



rberia, 94. 

Iconoclasts, of history, 182; of American 
history, 184-189 ; of general history, 189- 

Ilhistrated India, 89. 
Illustrations of industries, 92. 
Imaginary journeys, 90, 91. 
Improvements in schoolroom, 46. 
Inclined plane, 296, 297. 
Indian names, 98-100. 
Industries, Illustrations of, 92. 
Influences of Kindergarten, 57, 58. 
Ingelow's Bride of Enderby, 261. 
Insect collections, 52, 53. 
International Dictionary, 44. 
Iodine, 322, 323. 
Ireland, 94. 
Itasca, Derivation of, 103. 

Jack the Giant-killer, 178, 183. 

Jackson, 90. 

Jackson, General, 186, 187. 

Jacob's Dream, 19, 20. 

Japan and China, 43. 

Japan and the Japanese, 89. 

Johnson, Anecdote of, 285 ; Dr. Samuel, 

191. 
Jonathan, Story of, 14. 
Journeys, Chart, 92 ; Imaginary, 90, 91. 
Julius Cmsar, Extract from, 40, 336. 
Jumping, running, etc., 129-131. 
Juvenal, Extract from, 335. 

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 246. 

Keats, John, 229. 

Kidney, J. S., 87. 

Kiel Canal, Opening of, 42. 

Kimbeline or Cymbeline, 179. 

Kindergarten, influence of, 57, 58. 

King, Extract from Robert M., 255. 

King Arthur's candle, 86. 

King Hiero, Story of, 29S n. 

King John, Extract from, 40. 

King Lear, Extract from, 40. 

King Solomon and the Ants, 229. 

King Uther, 178. 

Kings and Queens of England, Rhyme of, 

174, 175. 
Kit Carson , s Bide, 87. 
Knights and Ladies, game, 68-70. 
Kolnus or Scolvus, 187. 

Ladder exercises, 133. 

Lady of the Lake, The, 229. 

Lady of Shalolt, The, 229. 

Lady Jardley^s Guest, 229. 

Lake of the Dismal Swamp, 87. 

Lampblack, 322. 

Lancaster, House of, 174. 

Land of the Midnight Sun, 90. 

Lang, Andrew, 235. 

Language, Use of, 284, 285. 

Larcom, Lucy, 20, 21, S7. 

Latin authors, Extracts from, 234-236 ; 
phrases and proverbs, 332, 334 ; Recrea- 
tions in, 329-336. 

Lavoisier, Antoine, chemist, 312, 826. 

Law of floating bodies, 29S ; of refraction, 
303. 



318 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



Lawn tennis, game, 216-218. 

Lays of Ancient Rome, 14. 

Leg exercises, 124-126. 

Leif Erikson, 180. 

Leir or Lear, 179. 

Length, Development of idea of, 86. 

Letter of Cromwell, 19S, 199. 

Letter writing, 233, 234 ; Cautions in regard 
to, 235, 236; in earlier times, 234; Mod- 
els of, 235 ; business and friendly letters, 
236, 23T. 

Letters to Dead Authors, 235. 

Lever, The, 296. 

Life in the Rocky Mountains, 90. 

Life of John of Barneveld, 332. 

Lightj Experiments on, 303-305. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 54, 1SS ; Debates of, 188, 
286. 

Literary societies, 275. 

Literature, Supplementary historical, 200. 

Lithographs in schoolrooms, 53, 54. 

Little Dialogues for Little People, 267 n. 

Little Don-it, 240. 

Little People of Asia, 89. 

Little Shepherdess, 61, 62. 

Livy, Extracts from, 336. 

London bridge, game, 62. 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 54, S7, 88, 
229, 231 ; Mortturi Salutamus, 261. 

Lookout Mountain, 87. 

Lord of Burleigh, The, 229. 

Lord's Prayer, 8. 

Loss of moisture, 323, 324. 

Louis the Eleventh, Anecdote of, 311. 

Louis the Fourteenth, Life of, 199. 

Love's Labor's Lost, Extract from, 41. 

Lover's Shamus O'Brien, 261. 

Lowell, James Russell, 54 ; Letters of, 235. 

Lucan, Extract from, 335. 

Lucretius, philosopher, 327. 

Lud, derivation of Ludgate, 179. 

Luther, Martin, 201. 

Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome, 14. 
Macbeth, 21 ; Extract from, 40. 
Maccabees, Second Book of, Extract from, 

173. 
Maclaren, Archibald, 122, 131. 
Madoc, Soulhey's, 180. 
Maghrouins, discoverers, 180. 
Magnetism, Experiments in, 305-308. 
Majority report, 116. 
Mammoth Cave, 87. 
Manget, Mr., 310. 
Mann, Horace, 85. 
Manners, Importance of, 58, 59. 
Manual of Geography, Monteith's, 103. 
Manual of the Sword, 149 n. 
Manuals for military drills, 14S. 
Maps, in schoolroom, 48 ; Modeling relief, 

108 ; Outline, 108, 109 ; Signal service, 

93. 
Marcellinus, Extract from, 336. 
Marches, from Faust, Aula, etc., 71, 72 ; 

in schools, 70. 
Marching songs, 70, 71, 150-153. 
Marco Paul Boohs, 89. 
Marcus Dama, in Persius' Satire, 19. 
Marguerite, game, 63-65. 



Mark Twain, 259. 

Marseillaise Hymn, 95. 

Marshall Hall's Ready Method in 
Drowning, 166-168. 

Martial, Extract from, 335. 

Mary Stuart, Life of, 199. 

Mass of bodies, 290. ' 

Materials for chemical experiments, 312, 
313. 

Mathematics, in relation to English, 224. 

Mathews, Dr. William, 183. 

Matter, defined, 313 ; three states of, 290, 
291. 

Maxwell, James, chemist, 328. 

Mcllaughton, T. H., 87. 

Meaning of geographical terms, 96, 97. 

Measure for Measure, Extract from, 39. 

Measurements in gymnastic classes, 148, 
144. 

Mechanical, powers, 295-297. 

Memphis, 87. 

Merchant of Venice, Extract from, 36, 37. 

Messiah, Pope's, 17, 18. 

Metals, etc., for school cabinets, 50. 

Middle Kingdom, The, 89. 

Military drills, 145-149 ; military training, 
145, 146 ; companies, uniforms, and arms, 
146, 147 ; manuals and salutes, 148, 149. 

Miller, Joaquin, 87. 

Milton's Ode on the Morning of Christ's 
Nativity, 24-26; Paradise Lost, 190. 

Minerals for school cabinets, 50 ; how 
found, 112. 

Minority report. 116. 

Mirabeau, 202 ; Speeches of, 265. 

Missouri Compromise, 187. 

Mixture, defined, 313. 

Mnemonic rhymes, 173-178. 

Mock congress, etc., 286, 287. 

Models of letter writing, 235. 

Modern European history, 201, 202 ; geo- 
graphical ideas, S4 ; ideas of history, 191, 
192 ; recreations in geography, 84. 

Moisture, Absorption and loss of, 323, 324. 

Molecules, 290, 313 ; Size of, 327, 328. 

Montague, Letters of Lady, 235. 

Monteith's Geographical Reader, 92 n. ; 
Manual of Geography, 103 n. 

Monument Mountain, 87. 

Moore, Thomas, 27, 28, 87. 

Moral effects of debating, 274 ; training as 
result of religious influences, 8. 

Morning exercises, 7-44 ; variety a neces- 
sity of childhood, 7 ; time for general 
exercises, 7, 8 ; devotional exercises, S- 
34; Bible reading, 10, 11, 34, 35; his- 
torical and literary parallelisms in the 
Bible, 11-19 ; biblical subjects of poems, 
19-34; general exercises, 35 ; responsive 
and Shakespearian quotations, 35-41 ; 
periodical summaries of current history, 
41-44 ; importance of good reading, 44. 

Morning greetings, 60. 

Morris, R. Anna, 122. 

Morris, William, 11. 

Morris's Scripture Readings, 9 n. 1. 

Morse, Dr. Edward S., 52. 

Moses and the Children of Israel, Song 
of, 26- 28. 



INDEX 



349 



Motions, in school societies, 2T7-2T9. 
Motley's Letters, 235; Life of John of 

Barncreld, 832. 
Moulton's Translation of Job, 29-34. 
Much Ado about Nothing, Extract from, 

41. 
Miihlbach's novels, 200. 
Music for school exercises, 270 ; for songs, 

78-80. 
My Merri/nac, 87. 
Mystery of Edwin Brood, 241, 259. 
Mythical history of England, 178, 179. 

Nadowessie Chieftain, The, 87. 
Names, Duplicate geographical. 94 ; Indian, 

98-100; of countries, Poetical, 94, 95; 

Pronunciation of geographical, 10U-102; 

Sportive geographical, 97, 98. 
Napoleon, 201. 
Napoleon, Life of, 199. 
Napoleonic line, 176. 
Narrative an aid to teaching, 88. 
National airs and songs, 95, 150-153 ; 

events, 42, 43 ; rulers, 113-115. 
Neatness in schoolroom, 47. 
Need of outdoor amusements, 202, 203. 
New England, History of, 197. 
New England Plantation, 198. 
New Holland, 94. 
New Jersey, Derivation of, 96. 
New pupils, Welcoming, 59, 60. 
Nero South, The, 89. 
New York, Derivation of, 96. 
Newton, Sir Isaac, 190, 327. 
Niagara River. 42. 
Nicholas Nicklehy, 240. 
Nitrogen, Discovery of, 326 ; Experiments 

with, 318, 319. 
Norma, March from, 72. 
Norman Horseshoe, The, 229. 
Normans, 174. 
North Sea, 94. 

North star, Orientation by means of, 85, 86. 
Northern Colonies, Life i'n, 197-199. 
Northern Pacific Railroad, 89. 
Notable utterances in Latin, 331, 332. 
Novel, Origin of the English, 234. 
Nuremberg, 88. 

Observation, cultivated by science, 290 ; 

of the weather, 92, i!3. 
Observational geographv, 110, 111. 
Odd PeopAe, 89. 
Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity, 

24-26. 
Officers of school societies, 275. 
Old Curiosity Shop, 240. 
Old Jewish Cemetery d Bridgeport, 87. 
Old pig, game, 210. 
Old South Leaflets, 195. 
Oliver Optic, 89. 
Oliver Twist, 240. 
On Lending a Punch Bowl, 229. 
On the Heights of Mission Ridge, 87. 
One Hundred Choice Selections Series, 

264 n. 
Onesimus, Plea for, 18, 19. 
Only an Armor Bearer, 15. 
Oral lessons in geography, 85. 



Orations, 264, 265. 

Oratory in relation to srovernment, 273. 

Order of business in school societies, 276, 

277. 
Orderlies, 162, 
Organic substances, 313. 
Organization of school societies,- 275. 
Orientation, 84, S5. 
Origin, of chemistry, 310-312 ; of English, 

234. 
Original compositions, 223-226 ; sources of 

history, 194, 195. 
Orleans, House of, 176. 
Ossian's Carrie- Thura, 261. 
Ostarius, corrupted to Oyster Hills, 101. 
Outdoor amusements for larger pupils. 

203-221 ; Need of, 203, 204 ; repression 

dangerous, 204, 205 ; direction of games 

205 ; athletics, 205, 206 ; recreations for 

public schools, 206, 207 ; outdoor sports 

207 ; various games, 207-221. 
Outline, compared to abstract, 229, 230 

maps, 108, 109 ; of historical essay, 244 

work, etc., 227-230. 
Ovid, Extracts from, 335. 
Oxygen, Discovery of, 326 ; Experiments 

with, 316, 317. 
Oyster Hills, corrupted from Ostarius, 101. 

Pamela, 234. 

Pannonia, 94. 

Paracelsus, alchemist, 312, 326. 

Paradise Lost, 190. 

Parallel bar exercises, 136, 137. 

Parallelisms in Bible, 11-19. 

Paraphrase and amplification, 230-233. 

Parliamentary usage in school societies, 
279, 280. 

Paronomasia, 329-331. 

Parthenon frieze, 54. 

Paul Revere' s Ride, 229. 

Paul's Epistle to Philemon, 18, 19. 

Peasants, game, 65-67. 

Pericles, Extract from, 255. 

Persius, Fifth Satire of, 19. 

Personal equation in history, 193 ; letter, 
233, 234. 

Philadelphia, Derivation of, ^Q>. 

Philosopher's stone, 310. 

Photographs in schoolroom, 54. 

Phrases and Proverbs, Familiar Latin, 332- 
334. 

Physical and chemical changes, 314, 315. 

Physical education, 122. 

Physical geography, 112, 113 ; in schools, 
92, 93. 

Physical training, Courses of, 120 ; Impor- 
tance of, 118, 119 ; Results of, 122. 

Physics, Easy experiments in, 288-309. 

Physiographical topics, 112, 113. 

Physiography, 115-117. 

Pickwick Papers, 240. 

Picture cases, 54, 55. 

Pictures, Humorous geographical, 103-107 . 
in school, 4S, 53, 54 : of life in the North- 
ern Colonies, 197-199. 

Pieces and Dialogues for Our Darlings, 
267 n. 

Pinckney, Anecdote of Charles C, 185. 



350 SCHOOL RECREATIONS AND AMUSEMENTS 



Pitt, William, 191. 

Plane, Inclined, 296, 297. 

Plantagenets, 174. 

Planting cabbages, game, 62, 63. 

Plants for schoolrooms, 51. 

Plating, 325, 326. 

Play, in England and Germany, 203 ; Need 
of outdoor, 203 ; relation to study, 204 ; 
Spontaneity of, 205. 

Pliny, Epistle to, 18, 19. 

Poe's Raven and Bells, 258. 

Poems, Biblical subjects for, 19-34; suita- 
ble for abstracts, 228, 229. 

Poems of Place, 88. 

Poetical names of countries, 94, 95. 

Point of order, in school societies, 279. 

Polls, in geographical names, 96. 

Polk, James K., 18S. 

Pollio, Vergil's, 17. 

Pope's Letters, 235 ; Messiah, 17, 18. 

Portugal, 92. 

Position, Correct, 122, 123. 

Pre-Columbian discoveries of America, 
179-182. 

Prentice, George D., 87. 

Preston, Mary J., 229. 

Priestley, Joseph, 326. 

Prisoner's base, game, 219, 220. 

Products, Sample, 92. 

Pronunciation of geographical names, 100- 
102. 

Proverbs, 13, 14; Familiar Latin, 832-334; 
Roman, 234. 

Public schools, Recreations for, 206, 207. 

Pulley, The, 296. 

Pupil, Song of missing, 60, 61. 

Puritans, 202. 

Quintilian, Extract from, 835. 
Quotations, from Shakespeare, 36^1 ; Re- 
sponsive, 35. 

Racine's Athalie, 28, 29, 264. 

Raven, Poe's, 258. 

Read's Sheridan's Ride, 262. 

Reading, Importance of good, 44 ; in rela- 
tion to composition, 244 ; Supplementary 
geographical, 86, 87 ; Teacher's geo- 
graphical, 86. 

Readings in Folk-lore, Skinner's, 178. 

Receptions, School, 257. 

Recitations, Dick's, 264. 

Recitations, 260-264 ; from the Classics, 
262, 263; in German and French, 263, 
264 ; Variety in, 110. 

Recreations, for public schools, 206, 207 ; 
Geographical, 83-117 ; Gymnastic, 118- 
144 ; Historical, 173-202 ; in Latin, 329- 
336. 

Red, While, and Blue, The, 150, 151. 

Reed, Lieutenant Hugh T., 148 n. 

Reference books, Use of, 225, 226. 

Refraction, Law of, 303. 

Reid, Captain Mayne, 89. 

Relief globes and maps, 108. 

Religious exercises, 8, 11. 

Report of the Committee of Ten, 90, 91, 
222, 223. 

Repression unsafe, 204, 205. 



Republic, third French, 176. 

Responsive quotations, 35. 

Review of Reviews, 42. 

Rhode Island Coal, 87. 

Rhymes, Mnemonic, 173-178. 

Richard the Second, Extract from, 41. 

Richard the Third, Extract from, 41 ; 
Life of, 199. 

Richardson, Samuel, 234. 

Ride from Ghent to Aix, Robert Brown- 
ing's, 88. 

Rile)', James Whitcomb, 259. 

Ring exercises, 134, 135. 

Rivers of France; 90. 

Robinson Crusoe, 1S3. 

Roderick Hume, 257, 258. 

Roland, Mme., 202. 

Roll ball, game, 209. 

Rollo Books, 89, 289. 

Roman proverbs, 234. 

Romance of Natural History, The, 90. 

Romeo and Juliet, Extract from, 39. 

Rooms, Gymnasium, 119, 120. 

Rope exercises, 138. 

Rounders, game, 214, 215. 

Row boats, 161, 162. 

Rowing, 161, 162. 

Rowing machine, 138, 

Rule, Britannia, 95. 

Rulers of France, 175, 176 ; of nations, 113- 
115 ; of Spain, 177, 178. 

Running, jumping, etc., 129-181. 

Russia, 90. 

Russia's relation to Turkey, 44. 

Russian March, 95. 

Rutherford, Daniel, 326. 

Sabianus, Epistle to, 18, 19. 

Sabrina, derivation of Severn, 179. 

Sackortle, Thomas, 179. 

Sailboats, 156-158. 

Sallust, Extract from, 336. 

Salts, 320, 321. 

Salutes in military drills, 148, 149. 

Sandglass, for telling time, 86. 

Saul, Byron's, 22. 

Saul and the Witch of Endor, 21. 

Savoy, House of, 177. 

Saxe, John Godfrey, 228, 262. 

Scheele, Carl, chemist, 812, 326. 

Schiller, 87 ; Per Taucher, 263. 

School amusements, Direction of, 205 ; cab- 
inets, 49, 50; debates, 272-287; decora- 
tions, 47, 48 ; exercises for small pupils, 
270, 271 ; flags, 48 ; furnishings, 55 ; life 
and sentiment, 253, 254 ; societies, 275- 
280. 

School composition, 222-251 ; study of Eng- 
lish and grammar, 222, 223 ; original com- 
positions, 223-225 ; reference books, 225- 
227 ; abstracts and outlines, 227-230 ; 
amplification and paraphrase, 280-233 ; 
letter writing, etc., 233-23S ; biographical 
sketches, 238-246 ; descriptive composi- 
tion, 246, 247 ; compositions in fiction, 
248-250 ; cultivation of taste, 250, 251. 

School Pialogues, 267 n. 

School exhibitions, 252-271 ; Old time, 252, 
253 ; school life and sentiment, 253, 254 ; 



INDEX 



351 



commemorative exercises, 254-256 ; Fri- 
day exercises, 256, 257 ; General, 257 ; 
elocution, recitations, etc., 257-269; tab- 
leaux, music, etc., 269, 270; exercises 
for young- pupils, 270, 271. 

School Gymnastics, 122. 

School Interests and Duties, King's, 255. 

Schoolrooms, Beautifying the, 45, 56 ; Care 
of, 47 ; Flowers in, 50, 51 ; Improvements 
in, 46 ; Modern ideas of, 45. 

Science, in elementary schools, 2S8, 2S9 ; 
in relation to English, 224 ; Value of, 
289, 290. 

Scientific terms, in chemistry, 313, 314; in 
physics, 290. 

Scolvus, or Scolnus, 187. 

Scotland, or Scotia, 94. 

Scott, Sir Walter, 200, 229. 

Screw, The, 297. 

Scripture Readings, Comments on, 34, 
35 ; Morris's, 9 n. 1 

Selections for devotional reading, 9 ; for 
dialogues, 266, 267 ; for recitations, 260- 
264. 

Seneca, Extracts from, 335, 336. 

Seneca Lake, 87. 

Sennacherib, Byron's, 22, 23. 

Sensational element in schoolroom, 43. 

Shakespeare, Quotations from, 36-41. 

Shell and insect collections, 52, 53. 

Shepherd, Dr. Henry E., 199. 

Sheridan, Anecdote of, 285. 

Shinny, game, 210. 

Shotover, corrupted from Chateau Vert, 
101. 

Sick Man of Europe, The, 44. 

Signal Service Maps, etc., 93, 94. 

Signaigo, J. A., 87. 

Sigourney, Mrs. L. H., 99. 

Silent manual, 154. 

Simple gymnastic exercises, 122-181 ; phys- 
ical experiments, 291-294. 

Sinbad the Sailor, 183. 

Singing games for little pupils, 57-77 ; Old 
games for little children, 57 ; Kinder- 
garten influence, 57, 58 ; games for little 
children, 58 ; improvement in manners, 
58, 59 ; welcoming song, 59, 60 ; morning 
greetings, 60 ; various songs in detail, 
60-70, 73, 74 ; marches, 70-72 ; exercise 
songs, 72, 74, 75 ; toasting song, 75-77. 

Singing geography, 83, 84. 

Size of molecules and atoms, 327, 328. 

Skeleton in, Armor, The, 87. 

Sketch of Charles Dickens, 239-241. 

Sketches, Biographical, 23S-243. 

Sketches by JBoz, 240. 

Skinner, Hubert M., 178, 182. 

Skipper Ireson's Ride, 87. 

Slave's Dream, The, 229. 

Sleeping Palace, The, 229. 

Sloop-rigged boats, 157. 

Smart, Dr. James H., 122. 

Smith, Anecdote of Captain John, 184, 185. 

Smollett, Books of, 239. 

Sodium chloride, 320. 

Solomon, Story of, 13, 14. 

Songs, Exercise, 72, 74, 75; Marching, 70, 
71 ; National, 95 ; of children of Israel, 



35; of David, 35; of missing pupil, 60, 
61 ; of Jloses, 26 ; of the Antediluvians, 
73, 74; of welcome, 59, 60; Patriotic, 
150-153 ; Toasting, 75-77 ; Various chil- 
dren's, 60-70. 

Sonnets, Extracts from Shakespeare's, 41. 

Sound, Experiments in, 301-303; 

South America, S9. 

Southey's Madoc, 186. 

Spain, 92, 94 ; Rulers of, 177, 178., 

Spanish Vistas, 90. 

Speakers, Beadle's, 264 n. 

Specimens, in connection with geography, 
92. 

Spectacles for Young Eyes, 90. 

Speech, relation to thought, 284-286. 

Spenser's Faerie Queene, 178. 

Sports, Outdoor, 207. 

Stage, scenery, etc., for tableaux, 268, 269. 

Standard time, 86. 

Star Spangled, Banner, 153. 

Stark, Anecdote of General, 185. 

Statesmen, American and British, 243. 

Stereopticon in schools, 56. 

Striking bag exercises, 138. 

Subjects for amplification, 232, 233 ; for bio- 
graphical sketches, 242, 243 ; for business 
correspondence and friendly letters, 236, 
237; for debates, 280-284; for fiction, 
etc., 249, 250 ; for school compositions, 
223. 

Suction pump, Principle of, 294, 295. 

Sundials, for telling time, 86. 

Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, 94. 

Swimming, 162-165. 

Swing exercises, 133, 134. 

Switzerland. 94. 

Synonyms, etc., 224. 

System of Physical Education, 122. 

Tableaux, 269, 270. 

Tacitus, Extract from, 385. 

Tag, game, 141. 

Tale of Two Cities, 241. 

Taming of the Shrew, Extract from, 41. 

Taney, Chief Justice, 188. 

Taste, Cultivation of, 250, 251. 

Taylor, General Zachary, 183, 1S6. 

Teacher's duty in relation to physical 

training, 119 ; preparation for teaching 

gymnastics, 121, 122. 
Teli, Anecdote of William, 190. 
Telling time, 86. 

Tempest, The, Extract from, 41. 
Tennis, game, 216-218. 
Tennyson, Alfred, 229 ; Dream of Fair 

Women and Locksley Hall, 261 ; May 

Queen, 262. 
Terence, Extracts from, 335, 336. 
Text-books of geography, Modern, 109, 110. 
Thackeray's Letters, 235. 
Theories, Chemical, 327. 
Thermometer, Use of, 93. 
Thomas, Jesse B., 187. 
Thomson, 328. 

Thought, Eelation to speech, 284-286. 
Three Years in Mexico, 90. 
Through and Through the Tropics, 90. 
Through Minnehaha'' s Veil, 87. 



352 school recreations and amusements 



Time, Ideas and determination of, 86. 

Toasting song, 75-77. 

Topics for descriptive themes, 247 ; Geo- 
graphical, 111, 112; Physiographic, 112, 
113. 

Translation, Value of, 224. 

Troihis and Cressida, Extract from, 40. 

Trojan war, 178. 

Trowbridge, John T., 87, 229 ; Vagabonds, 
262. 

Trunk exercises, 124. 

Tudor, House of, 174. 

Turkey and Eussia, Outline account of, 44. 

Turkish Empire, 42. 

Twelfth Night, Extract from, 41. 

Twenty Years of Congress, 1SS n. 1. 

Two Church Builders, The, 228. 

Tyndall, John, Extract from, 327. 

Ulysses, 88. 

Uniforms in military drills, 146, 147. 
United States, 94 ; Outline map of, 109. 
United States Army Brill Regulations, 

148. 
Up the Nile, 89. 
Uther, King, 178. 

Vagabonds, The, 229. 
Valois Line, 176. 
Value of science study, 289, 290. 
Variety in child's instruction, 7. 
Vaulting bar exercises, 132, 133. 
Velocipedes, 168. 

Ventilation, in relation to exercise, 120. 
Vergil. JEneid, 178 ; Extracts from, 335, 
336 ; Fourth Eclogue, 15-17 ; Pollio, 17. 
Vermilion Sea, 94. 
Vertical parallel bars, 138. 

Village Blacksmith, The, 229. 
Virginia, Scene in old, 196. 
Vocabulary, Importance of, 224. 
Volume of bodies, 290. 
Vortigere or Vortigern, 179. 

Voyage in the Sunbeam, 90. 



Wales, 94. 

Walking, running, etc., 129-131. 

Walks in Rome, 90. 

Walpole, Sir Kobert, 191. 

Walter von der Vogelweide, 229. 

War of 1812, 185. 

Washington, George, 54, 184. 

Watch on the Rhine, The, 95. 

Water, Elements of, 315, 316. 

Water World, The, 90. 

Watling Island, 184. 

Weather observations, 92, 93. 

Webster, Daniel, 187. 

Weighing of gases, 320. 

Welcome to new pupils, 59, 60. 

Wellington, Anecdote of, 190. 

West, The, 90. 

Westminster Abbey, 54. 

Wheel and axle, 297. 

Whittier, John Greenleaf, 54, 87, 229. 

Whittier's Barbara Frielchie, 262. 

William the Silent, 201. 

Wilmot proviso, 247. 

Winds, 112. 

Winthrop, John, 197. 

Witch's Daughter, The, 229. 

Witch of Endor, Saul and, 21. 

Witt, Cornelius de, 332. 

Woolson, O. P., 87. 

Wreck, The, 87. 

Yankee Doodle, 95, 189. 
York, House of, 174. 
Young America Abroad, 89. 
Young Folks Abroad, 89. 
Young Yagers, The, 89. 
Yucatan, derivation of, 103. 

Zeno, Antonio, 181. 

Zeno, Nicolo, 181. 

Zigzag Journeys, 90. 

Zoology, Aids to the study of, 52. 

Zosimus, 310. 



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